I 



! 



I 




To face p. 81 




To face p. M 



THROUGH LAPLAND 
WITH SKIS AND REINDEER 



I 

I 



i 



I 

! 
i 



i 



THROUGH LAPLAND 

WITH SKIS ftf REINDEER 

WITH SOME ACCOUNT OF ANCIENT 
LAPLAND AND THE MURMAN COAST 
By FRANK HEDGES BUTLER, F.R.G.S. 
First Hon. Treasurer Royal Automobile Club, 1897 
to 1902 ; Founder of the Royal Aero Club, 1901 ; 
Author of "5,000 Miles in a Balloon," 
and of " Travels by Land, Water, and Air " 



WITH 4 MAPS AND 65 ILLUSTRATIONS 



NEW YORK 
FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY 
PUBLISHERS 




First published in 1917 



sin 



(All rights reserved) 

PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN 



DEDICATED TO 

THE MEMBERS OF THE SKI CLUB, 
OF THE ROYAL AUTOMOBILE CLUB, 
AND OF THE ROYAL AERO CLUB 

OF GREAT BRITAIN 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER I 

PAGE 

INTRODUCTORY . . . . . 1 

The term "Lapp" — Situation and physical conditions of 
Lapland — The different kinds of Lapps — Their modes of 
life — Their dress 



CHAPTER II 

THE LAPLANDER OF OLD . . . .16 

Lapland in the seventeenth century— Inhabitants— Dwell- 
ings — Dress — Food — Manners — Customs — Birth — Educa- 
tion — Courtship and marriage — Health — Death — Funerals 
— Industries and employments — Bear-hunting — Religion — 
Language 



CHAPTER III 

THE LAPLANDER OF TO-DAY . . . 51 

Modern Lapland — Routes and conditions of travel — Rein- 
deer, wolves, and dogs — The pulka : the Lapp travelling 
coach — Ski-ing — The Lapland winter — Ways of life — Social 
customs — Marriage — Burial rites — Village communal 
meetings : c< Sooim " — A native on life in Lapland 

vii 



viii 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER IV 

PAGE 

FROM BOSSKOP TO VADSO . . . . .98 

Visit to Bosskop — A Lapp fair — The "Samlag" and 
prohibition — Provisions and clothing for the journey — The 
ceremonial of a Lapp toilet — Pulka travelling — Dinner at 
7 a.m.— Karasjok — Lapp scenery and weather — Lapland 
nights — The "bastue," the Finnish Turkish bath : its rites 
and ceremonies 



CHAPTER V 

PETCHENGA AND THE MONASTERY OF ST. TRYPHON . 137 

Journey to Petchenga, in Russian Lapland — Visit to 
Petchenga Monastery, founded by St. Tryphon, 1533 — 
History of Tryphon — His death, 1583 — Later vicissitudes 
of the monastery — Massacre of the monks and destruc- 
tion of the buildings, 1590 — Rebuilding of the monastery, 
1619 — Its importance and influence to-day 



CHAPTER VI 

THE MURMAN COAST AND THE KOLA PENINSULA . .169 

Extent and physical features— Early history — Inhabitants 
— Climate — Birds and fishes — Possibilities for colonizing 
the Murman Coast — Basin of the Paza River — Population 
— Ways of life — Communications with Petrograd — Report 
of Russian Minister 



CHAPTER VII 

IN THE FAR NORTH ...... 192 

Going North in Lapland — Polar Circle Station — Malmberg, 
the iron mountain — From Kiruna to Karesuando — Easter 
in the Far North — Wedding feasts and funeral baked meats 
— Life with the northernmost Lapps 



CONTENTS 



ix 



CHAPTER VIII 



PAGE 



MODES OF TRAVEL : REINDEER-SLEIGHING AND SKI-ING . 218 

Reindeer as beasts of burden — Reindeer and ski-driving — 
Breaking in the reindeer — Harness — Driving in the moun- 
tains — Bosskop market — Transport routes — Ski-running 
— Origin of the word "ski" — Different kinds of ski 
described 



APPENDIXES 



I. Boads, Winterways, and Eoutes 



. 233 



II. Fjeldstues (Rest- or Guest-houses) 



. 249 



III. Telegraph and Telephone Offices 



. 256 



IV. Russian Lapland and the Murman Coast 



. 260 



¥. Bibliography 



. 282 



lA 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



FRANK HEDGES BUTLER 



Frontispiece 



FACING PAGE 
LAPLAND " 



ENGRAVED FRONTISPIECE FROM SHEFFER S 
CROSSING RUSSIAN LAPLAND . 
TRAVELLING ALONG THE ALTEN RIVER 
ANCIENT DRAWING OF PULKA AND REINDEER 
ANCIENT WEARING APPAREL . 
SACRIFICES AND OTHER CEREMONIES 
ANCIENT SKIS, SHOWING THE DIFFERENT LENGTHS 
LAPP MAN AND WOMAN. REINDEER CARRYING CHILD 
ANCIENT SACRIFICES : REINDEER HORNS 

LAPP WOMAN CARRYING MAILS TO KOLA AND ARCHANGEL 

FROM PETCHENGA 
BOSSKOP AND MOUNTAINS 
HOTEL AT BOSSKOP 
BOSSKOP CHURCH 
KARASJOK CHURCH 
BOSSKOP : A PROMENADE ON SKIS 
BOSSKOP : SKI-GIRL 

BOSSKOP: AUTHOR AND LAPP THURRI 
KARASJOK : TELEPHONE STATION. TELEPHONE MISTRESS 

AND CHILDREN . . . . , 

JUKASJARVI : GOVERNMENT REST-HOUSE 
REINDEER PLODDING UP A MOUNTAIN 
RAVNASTUEN . 
KARASJOK : LAPP CHILDREN . 

KARASJOK : OUR PARTY AT NIELSEN'S HOTEL 
CHILDREN PLAYING ON SNOW SLOPES AT KARASJOK 
AUTHOR AND LAPP SLEEPING IN THE SNOW 
BASSEVOUDSTUEN : REST-HOUSE 
ANGELI : PARK OF FIR-TREES. LAPP ON SKIS 
A MERCHANT'S CARAVAN ON KARASJOKA RIVER 
AIKIO, FINLAND : LAPP WOMAN AND HERD OF REINDEER . 
OUR VAPPUS (DRIVER) FETCHING REINDEER TO HARNESS 
IN PULKAS . . . . . . . 

REISVUONO : GOING ON BOARD MOTOR-YACHT 

xi 



1 

8" 
8 
20 
20 

22: 

22 
24 
24 

60 
96 
98 
100' 
100 
102^ 
104 
10$ 

108 

110 

112 

114 

116. 

118 

120 

120 

122 

123 

124 

126 

128 
130 



sii ILLUSTRATIONS 

FACING FAGS 

REISVUONO : MR. GUNNARI, HANDELSMAN AND POSTMASTER. 

AUTHOR IN SLEDGE . . . . .132 

BIDDING GOOD-BYE AT BUGOFJORD .... 134 
PETCHENGA MONASTERY . . . . .137 

BORG MESCH (SWEDISH INTERPRETER), AUTHOR, AND LAPP 138 
PETCHENGA : AUTHOR AND RUSSIAN LAPLANDER . .138 
AUTHOR AND STAFF OF PETCHENGA MONASTERY . .144 
EN ARE CHURCH. AUTHOR ON SKIS .... 144 
SWEDISH LAPLAND : POLAR CIRCLE RAILWAY STATION . 192 
JUKASJARVI CHURCH AND TOWER . . . .192 

KIR-UNA: RAILWAY STATION AND HOTEL . . .194 

•JUKASJARVI : LAPP TENT . . . . .196 

KARESUANDO CHURCH : LAPPS LEAVING AFTER SERVICE . 197 
KARESUANDO : HERE OSCAR VON SUDOW (SWEDISH GOVERNOR 

OF LAPLAND), LAPP WOMEN, AND CHILD . .198 

EASTER DAY IN KARESUANDO CHURCH : COMMUNION SCENE 199 
KARESUANDO : REST-HOUSE. LAPP PEOPLE. AUTHOR WITH 

SPADE STICK . . . . . . 200 

LAPP WEDDING AT KARESUANDO .... 201 

LAPPS LEAVING KARESUANDO CHURCH . . . 202 

LEPPAJARVI : OUR PARTY IN FINLAND . . . 204 

LEPPAJARVI : OUR DRIVERS IN RUSSIAN FINLAND . . 204 

AIDDEJAVRE : GOVERNMENT REST-HOUSE . . . 204 

KAUTOKEINO CHURCH AND BI8HOP OF TROMSO . . 206 

LAPPOLUABAL : LAPP TENT ..... 20S 

KAUTOKEINO : LAPP GROUP ..... 208 

VADSO : NORWEGIAN LADY IN REINDEER DRESS . . 210 

JESJOKA RIVER : REINDEER RETURNING AFTER MID-DAY 

MEAL OF MOSS . . . . . .210 

HAMMERFEST : SKI-JUMPING ..... 212 

HAMMERFEST I ASCENDING MOUNT TYVEN . . . 212 

SUOSJAVRE : SNOW-MOUND REST . . . .214 

LAPP WOMAN AND CHILD . . . . .218 

LAPP MOTHER AND CHILD ..... 222 

LAPP ON SKIS WITH REINDEER ON RIVER MUONIOELF . 224 

INTERIOR SCENE : LAPP THURRI MAKING A MEAL . . 226 

LAPPS PASSED EN ROUTE ..... 228 

MAPS 

ANCIENT MAP OF LAPLAND . . . . .2 

ANCIENT MAP OF RUSSIAN LAPLAND . . . .6 

ROUTES TO LAPLAND . . . . . .51 

PART OF LAPLAND, SHOWING AUTHOR'S ROUTES . . 286 





To face p. 1. 



THEOUGH LAPLAND 



CHAPTEE I 

INTEODUCTOEY 

The term "Lapp" — Situation and physical conditions of Lapland — 
The different kinds of Lapps — Their modes of life — Their dress. 

Not such the sons of Lapland : wisely they 

Despise th' insensate barbarous trade of war ; 

They ask no more than simple Nature gives; 

They love their mountains, and enjoy their storms. 

No false desires, no pride-created wants, 

Disturb the peaceful current of their time; 

And, through the restless ever-tortured maze 

Of pleasure, or ambition, bid it rage. 

Their reindeer form their riches. These their tents, 

Their robes, their beds, and all their homely wealth 

Supply, their wholesome fare, and cheerful cups. 

Obsequious at their call, the docile tribe 

Yield to the sled their necks, and whirl them swift 

O'er hill and dale, heaped into one expanse 

Of marbled snow, as far as eye can sweep 

With a blue crust of ice unbounded glazed. 

Thomson. 



The term " Lapland" is applied to the part of 
northern Europe inhabited by the Lapps. It 

2 1 



2 THROUGH LAPLAND 



covers portions of Norway, Sweden, and Eussia. 
The origin of the term "Lapp" is obscure. The 
Swedish historian, Johannes Magnus, writing in 
the sixteenth century, called the land Lappia, 
following Saxo G-rammaticus, the twelfth-century 
Danish chronicler. Other writers called it by the 
latinized name Lapponia. In the seventeenth 
century the region was known in England as 
Lapland, in Sweden as Lapmarkia, 1 in Denmark 
and Norway as Laplandia or Findmarkia. Several 
ingenious etymologies have been suggested both 
in ancient and modern times. Some derive the 
name from the Swedish Lapp, rags, " from their 
[i.e. the Laplanders] coming into Swedland every 
year with rags lapt about them"; others from 
the Swedish la&pa, to run or leap, from their skill 
in sliding swiftly over the frozen snow by means 
of ski. Sheffer, 2 the Swedish professor whose 
"Lapponia" (1673) was translated into English 
and published at Oxford in 1674,3 wrote of the "art 

1 " Mark " in Swedish = land. 

3 Johannes Schefferus (John Sheffer) was born at Strasburg 
in 1621 ; in 1648 he came to Sweden by invitation of Queen 
Christina, and was soon appointed Professor of Law and 
Ehetoric at the University of Upsala, where he died in 
1679. He is the author of many learned historical and legal 
works. 

3 The English translator was Acton Cremer, son of Thomas 
Cremer, of Bockleton, in Worcestershire. He was educated 



INTRODUCTORY 



3 



they have by which with crooked pieces of wood 
under their feet like a bow they hunt wild beasts, 
and glide along the ground not taking up one 
foot after another as in common running, but 
carrying themselves steady upon the frozen snow, 
they move forward stooping a little." 

Historians often called Lapland " Scridfinnia," 
and the inhabitants were famous for sliding or 
gliding along the ground, their feet fastened to 
crooked pieces of wood, made plain and bent like 
a bow in the front part to move freely over the 
tops of the snow hills. The term " Scridfinnia " is 
derived from " Skrida," which in the Danish and 
Swedish languages means to slide. 

In Norway and Finland the Laplanders are 
called Finns, and in Sweden and Russian Lap- 
land, Laplanders. 

The extent and exact situation of Lapland 
in ancient times is uncertain, but in 1600, 

at Westminster School and came up to Christ Church, 
Oxford, in 1670, aged 19. According to Hearne the work of 
translation was " an imposition set him by Bishop Fell for 
courting a mistress " at that early age. The lady in question 
was his cousin, Miss Elizabeth Penell, whom he married in 
1676. Cremer took his B.A. in 1674 and his M.A. in 1677. 
He became Vicar of Clifton, in Worcestershire. 

To the second edition of Sheffer's 11 History of Lapland," 
published in London in 1704, there is added "The Travels 
of the King of Sweden's Mathematicians into Lapland." 



4 THROUGH LAPLAND 



Charles IX, King of Sweden, sent two famous 
mathematicians — Forsius, a Swedish, and Birk- 
holten, a German professor — with instruments, to 
make what discoveries they could. On their 
return they reported " that beyond the elevation 
of the Pole 73 degrees there was no continent 
towards the north but the great frozen sea, and 
that the farthest point was Norcum, or Norcap, 
not far from the Castle of Wardhouse." 

The following is the table of the latitudes and 
longitudes taken by them : — 





Longitude. 


Latitude. 


Uma 


... 3800 


6511 


Pitha 


... 40-00 


66-14 


Lula 


... 40-30 


66-30 


Toerna 


... 42-27 


67-00 


Kimi 


... 42-20 


67.10 


Lappijaerf 


... 42-33 


70-90 


Antoware 


... 44-40 


70-26 


Tenokijle 


... 46-00 


7050 


Porsanger 


... 44-20 


71-42 


Lingen 


... 3730 


70«36 


Traenes 


... 32-30 


70-25 


Euvenes... 


... 33-35 


70-00 


Titifare 


... 3755 


69-40 


Piala 


... 41-40 


60-15 


Siguar 


... 38-35 


68-59 


Tingwar 


... 3800 


69-40 


Eounala... 


... 39 30 


69-47 


Kontokrine 


... 42-00 


69-17 


Waranger 


... 45-00 


71-35 


Lanzord 


... 45-35 


71-26 



INTRODUCTORY 



5 





Longitude. 


Latitude. 


Hwalsund 


... 4240 


71-12 


Skrifae 


... 38-50 


71-18 


Trumfae... 


... 35-52 


70-00 


Andaces ... 


... 3200 


70-30 


Serghen ... 


... 32-20 


6930 


Wardhus 


... 52-00 


71-55 


Norkaap... 


... 45-30 


72-30 



As the latitude proves, Lapland is situated 
very near the Pole. There are only two seasons : 
summer and winter. For some months in the 
summer the sun never sets nor goes below the 
earth; at the same time it does not rise much 
above it, " but as it were kisses and gently glides 
along the horizon for the most part." In winter 
the sun never rises, although, as a matter of 
fact, even when lowest it is not much beneath 
the earth, and notwithstanding that there is con- 
tinual night for some months, " yet every day 
the sun comes so near that it makes a kind 
of twilight." The moon, in winter, gives a 
bright light, which is enhanced by the white- 
ness of the snow, so that work can well be 
carried on. "When the moon shines they go 
a-fishing, and despatch all other necessaries that 
are to be done without doors ; and when it 
does not, if the air be clear, even the light of 
the stars so much abates the darkness that the 
horror of the night is much lessened." 



6 THROUGH LAPLAND 



The climate, notwithstanding the severe cold, 
is healthy. The air is fresh and clear, purified 
by the frequent and violent winds. A particu- 
larly tempestuous wind rises from the sea, and 
heaps up thick dark clouds that, even in sum- 
mer, obscure the sight, and in winter " drive 
the snow with such force and quantity that if 
any person be surprised abroad, he hath no 
other remedy but to throw himself on the 
ground, with some garment over him, suffering 
himself to be quite buried in snow till the storm 
is past, 1 which done, he rises up and betakes 
himself to the next cottage he can meet, all 
paths and roads being hid in the snow." 

The worst winds are those that prevail 
among the mountains, " where they throw down 
all things they meet with, and carry them away 
by their violence into far distant places, where 
they are never seen or heard of afterwards," 
and the inhabitants' only chance of safety is 
to take refuge in dens and caves. Eain is rare 
in summer, but frequent at other seasons. In 
winter the whole land is covered with snow, 
and travelling is done at night, when the moon, 
reflected from the snow, lights up all the 
country and ensures safety. Travellers can thus 

1 To-day he puts up skis or pulkas as a sign to other 
travellers. 



INTRODUCTORY 



7 



" discern and avoid any pits, precipices, and 
wild beasts that would otherwise annoy them: 
so convenient are the ways for any journey 
that two reindeer will draw a greater load over 
the trodden snow than a cart and ten horses 
can in the fields at other times." 

In the most northerly part of Lapland, 
which is very mountainous, the tops of the 
mountains are covered with perpetual snow. 
Frequent mists so thicken the air that " pas- 
sengers cannot distinguish one man from another 
to salute or avoid him, though he be close up 
to them." The swiftest rivers are frozen so 
hard that the ice is practically solid and the 
lakes could bear the weight of a railway train. 

Strange as it may seem, the summer is hot, 
since the sun shines unceasingly. Spring and 
autumn, as has been said, are non-existent ; 
there is scarcely any interval between the ex- 
treme cold of winter and the heat of summer. 
Strangers regard it as a miracle to see " every- 
thing springing fresh and green when but a 
week before all things were overwhelmed with 
frost and snow." An old chronicler records 
how, in June 1616, he saw the trees budding 
and the grass coming up green out of the 
ground, and within a fortnight after he saw the 
plants full blown and the leaves of the trees 



s 



THROUGH LAPLAND 



"•at their perfection, as if they had known how 
short the summer was to be, and therefore 
made such haste to enjoy it." Mosquitoes are 
a veritable plague in July, and special clothing 
is necessary. 

Some of the Lapps live in the mountains, others 
in the pine woods. The former are called Moun- 
tain Lapps (Fjeldlappers). In the winter, how- 
ever, they have to live in the woods, as they can- 
not remain on the mountains, where there are 
frequent storms of snow and no sheltering trees. 
When the snow is deep it is easy to keep the 
reindeer, sometimes two or three thousand of 
them, in a herd together. From Christmas till 
Easter the Lapps remain mostly in one place, 
and when the snow melts they follow the 
reindeer to the mountains and islands across 
the sea, where they remain during the calving 
season until Midsummer Day. After that they 
go still higher up the mountains to get away 
from the mosquitoes and gnats. The same cir- 
cuit has gone on for many hundreds of years. 
In appearance and habits the Mountain Lapps 
afford a typical picture of the race. 

The Laplander begins to go to the moun- 
tains and coast from the interior about the end 
of May and June, leaving all his winter neces- 
saries behind him in wooden buildings in the 



CROSSING RUSSIAN LAPLAND 




TRAVELLING ALONG THE ALTEN RIVER. 
From drawings on stone by W. Westall, A.li.A. 



To face p. 8 



! I 

I 




INTRODUCTORY 



9 



villages. The reindeer are very fond of salt 
water, and nature has taught them to get 
away to the high lands from the clouds of mos- 
quitoes that tease them near the rivers and 
lakes. The Swedish Lapps from Tornea Trask 
go to Tromso, and travel some two to three 
hundred miles from the interior. They also go 
from Enontekis, in Finland. 

When the Lapp pitches his tent it is generally 
by a lake where water can be obtained, and 
sheltered from the winds. The tent is a mere 
rag of coarse cloth about 6 ft. high to 20 ft. in 
circumference. In this confined space, with a hole 
at the top to let out the smoke, the Laplander, 
his wife, children, and dogs sleep. Many times 
have I slept in these tents, sometimes seeing 
the stars and the Northern Lights shining above. 
At other times it has been snowing, the snow 
melting by the heat of the wood fire as it 
descends. The only entrance to the tent is by 
a small slit on one side covered by a flap, which 
lifts or falls and prevents the external air coming 
in. The erection of a tent takes half an hour. 
Three forked branches are stuck into the ground 
in a triangle, joined at the top, and a few 
branches tied round to strengthen it. 

The existence of these people is subject to 
constant change. During their wandering they 



10 THROUGH LAPLAND 



see the greatest variety of scenery and witness 
Nature in her wildest and most beautiful garb. 
Their lives are passed sometimes in inactivity 
and sometimes in great bodily fatigue and hard- 
ship, and in undergoing the extremes of plenty 
and want. When hungry, the Lapp gratifies his 
appetite without ^restraint, and is perfectly rave- 
nous; the quantity he devours at a meal is 
astonishing, and sufficient to last him some 
days should he be exposed to any sudden 
extremity. 

In all parts of Norwegian, Swedish, and 
Eussian Lapland there is a numerous class of 
poorer Lapps, whose herds of deer are too small 
to enable them to live in the mountains, or to 
trust to them entirely for subsistence. These 
are called Wood Lapps, and they live in the 
large woods and forests that abound in the 
country. There are also the Fishing or Coast 
Lapps. 

Near the coast potatoes grow and a little corn, 
but the greater part of the soil is covered with 
moss, on which the 200,000 reindeer feed. The 
Lapps themselves live mostly in the winter on 
reindeer meat and dried salt fish. 

The Laplanders are generally of low stature, 
but many of the young men and women are 
handsome and strong. Near the coast the people 



INTRODUCTORY 



11 



are dark and their eyes are brown, but in the 
interior fair people are met with light blue eyes, 
a clear skin, and beautiful white teeth. Some 
have thick heads, short flat noses, wide mouths, 
and straggling beards, and resemble the Mon- 
golian type. They are very superstitious and 
are frightened of a stranger if he tries to photo- 
graph them. 

Honesty is one of the great virtues of the 
Lapp, who abhors theft : the merchants only 
cover their goods to secure them against the 
weather in their wooden buildings, and on their 
return from long journeys find them safe and 
untouched. 

The Lapps are charitable to the poor and hos- 
pitable to strangers. They are clean and indus- 
trious, making tools, implements for fishing, 
clothes, and ornaments. 

To travel in comfort in Lapland it is necessary 
to dress like the natives. In winter the dress is 
the same for men and women, both wearing 
breeches made of reindeer skins — the skins of the 
young calf — which they call muddas or paesks. The 
feet are covered with shoes of reindeer skin filled 
with dry grass ; the hands with gloves, also made 
of reindeer skin and filled with dry hay. Women 
generally wear a white reindeer coat and red cap 
with yellow or blue embroidery. The men's caps 



12 



THROUGH LAPLAND 



are rilled with eiderdown and feathers from dif- 
ferent birds. The winter costume of the Lap- 
landers is the same throughout the country. 

For the fairs and for weddings and feasts the 
dress is very picturesque. The women have 
many-coloured shawls over their shoulders and 
silver ornaments, and at weddings they generally 
don white shoes and red gloves. The men wear 
on such occasions a red leather belt — sometimes 
richly ornamented and covered with small squares 
of solid silver — from which they suspend their 
knives, tobacco-pouches, etc. Silver rings are 
worn by both sexes, and in all my travels, 
whether in the frozen North or in Central Africa 
by the Victoria Nyanza, where the Kavirondo 
tribes go nude, I have always observed that the 
ladies like ornaments. 

For driving in pulkas, a driving paesk 1 is put 
over the ordinary paesk, 2 and is made of the 
best and thickest skins. Over the shoulders a 
broad bear-skin tippet 3 is worn which entirely 
covers them, reaching nearly to the waist ; the 
claws of the animal are sometimes left on the 
ends hanging down in front. I bought a very 
nice bear tippet for thirty roubles from a Lapp 
in Enare, Finland. The tippets are a great pro- 

1 Mountjarn baesk. 2 Kjore baesk. 

3 Sjaewanowdt. 



INTRODUCTORY 



13 



tection during a heavy fall of snow and generally 
in bad weather. 

From the belt of the paesk is suspended the 
knife, tobacco-pouch, and shooting apparatus 
when hunting. The knife is long, and is used 
for cutting wood, eating, clearing the snow off 
the bottom of the pulka, or killing the reindeer. 

Keindeer leggings 1 slip on and come above the 
knee ; they are sometimes fastened to the knicker 
breeches, and prevent the snow or cold coming 
near the legs. They are secured at the bottom 
by long, narrow yellow or red bands 2 round and 
round the high shoe, to keep the cold from 
ascending and the snow from getting in. The 
Laplanders wear no stockings or socks, the 
shoes being stuffed with soft dried grass. 3 
The gloves, made of reindeer skin, are also 
stuffed with grass, and there are no fingers to 
these gloves. Drying the grass before the fire in 
the morning is a great business. Sometimes 
twenty Lapps — men, women, and children — with 
their feet bare and spotlessly clean owing to the 
rubbing of the grass, perform this operation. 
Grass keeps the feet warm, and means comfort 
for the whole of the body for the rest of the day, 
for as there is no dust or dirt in the snow and 



1 Baellinger. 2 Wontogahk. 

3 Carex sylvatica, in Lappish, sena. 



14 



THROUGH LAPLAND 



ice, the body is kept clean. In fact, washing 
the hands and face is all that is necessary when 
travelling north during a journey ; a vapour bath 
is obtained later on at a village. 

Almost every part of the reindeer skin goes to 
the making of clothes. The paesk is made from 
the whole hide of the deer killed in the winter; 
the leggings and gloves, of the skin covering the 
legs and thighs of the animal, and the shoes are 
taken from the skin between the horns and 
covering the top of the head. The fur is worn 
outside, and the closeness and thickness of it 
make it impossible for the cold to penetrate. 

To preserve the free circulation of the blood 
every article of clothing is made loose and easy. 
The sleeves of the paesk are very large, which 
makes the coat easy to get out of, as it is drawn 
over the head. This is very useful when the 
cold is severe, as the Lapps are continually 
obliged to sleep on the snow without any 
further shelter for their bodies than their 
clothes. But it should be observed that the 
author put on twenty-five separate articles of 
clothing, the only one of no use being the 
handkerchief, because in the dry air colds are 
unknown. Laplanders owe to the dry air the 
great blessing of health. Like the Northern 
Esquimaux, they are almost entirely immune 



INTRODUCTORY 



15 



from disease. Colds from exposure are nearly 
unknown to the Laplanders, and I have often 
seen the winter paesk more open in front than 
with others who live in warmer districts. They 
never seem to feel the cold, and are always most 
careful never to remove their gloves and to have 
plenty of dry hay in their shoes. 



CHAPTEE II 



THE LAPLANDER OF OLD 

\ 

aplaud in the seventeenth century — Inhabitants — Dwellings — Dress 
— Food — Manners — Customs — Birth — Education — Courtship 
and marriage — Health — Death — Funerals — Industries and 
employments — Bear-hunting — Beligion — IJanguage. 

Befoee proceeding to the narrative of my travels 
in Lapland, it is interesting to give some account 
of the country and inhabitants as it was in the 
last quarter of the seventeenth century, because 
there is, on the whole, very little difference 
between the Lapland of to-day and of that 
period. As will be seen, the traveller constantly 
comes across manners and customs, occupa- 
tions, beliefs and superstitions, that remain 
the same as when they were described by the 
old historian. 

1. The Inhabitants. 

The origin of the Laplanders is obscure. Some 
ascribe to them a Mongolian origin, and both 

16 



THE LAPLANDER OF OLD 17 



their type of countenance and their language 
lend themselves to that belief. It is, however, 
generally agreed that they are akin to the Finns 
described by Tacitus as wild hunters u who 
have neither weapons, horses, nor household 
gods. They live upon herbs, are clothed with 
skins,.; lie upon the ground, putting all their con- 
fidence in arrows, which they head with bones 
for want of iron. Both the men and women 
support themselves by hunting, and they have 
no other defence for their children against the 
violence of wild beasts or weather but huts or 
hurdles, which are the security of the old men 
as well as the young." Later, Saxo Grammaticus 
wrote of them as <c the farthest people towards 
the north, living in a clime almost uninhabitable, 
good archers and hunters, and of uncertain habi- 
tations, wheresoever they kill a beast making that 
their mansion, and they slide upon the snow in 
broad wooden shoes." 

In the seventeenth century the greater part 
of Lapland, viz. the southern and inland country, 
belonged to Sweden ; the maritime tract, then 
called Findmark, to Norway ; and the rest, from 
the Castle of Wardhus to the entrance to 
the White Sea, to Russia. Sheffer describes the 
Laplanders as of low stature but well propor- 
tioned, and with good features. Their agility of 

3 



18 



THROUGH LAPLAND 



body was great, and they were in every way 
suited for active employments. The young 
women were often handsome ; they had a clear 
skin and took great care to preserve their natural 
beauty. The men were of swarthy complexion, 
lean and slender, broad chested, strong limbed, 
and swift footed, with thick heads, prominent 
foreheads, hollow and blear eyes, short flat noses 
and large mouths. Their hair was thin and 
short, their beards straggling, scarce covering 
the chin. The hair of both sexes was generally 
black and coarse, very seldom yellow. Their 
usual exercises were running races, climbing 
inaccessible rocks and tall trees. Sheffer found 
them very superstitious and cowardly, " being 
frighted at the very sight of a strange man or 
ship," suspicious, jealous, and revengeful. Above 
all they dreaded war, and our historian refuses 
to countenance the tradition that Gustavus 
Adolphus had several companies of Laplanders 
in his armies. He attributes the belief very 
ingeniously to the fact that Gustavus's enemies 
had to find some reason for the "many defeats 
which, to the wonder of the world, that most 
victorious Prince" inflicted on them, and so 
pretended that the " victories were obtained by 
he help of the Laplanders and magic.' ' In 
business matters the Laplanders liked to get the 



THE LAPLANDER OF OLD 19 

best of a bargain, and were delighted when they 
happened "to outwit any one." They were also 
covetous, " it being part of their cowardice to 
dread poverty " ; yet they were lazy, and until 
compelled by necessity could hardly bring them- 
selves to hunt or fish. They disliked strangers, 
" of what country soever," and Sheffer wisely 
observes : " So fond admirers are all men of 
themselves, that even the Laplanders will not 
exchange their interests with the inhabitants of 
the most happy climate, and however barbarous 
they are, doubt not to prefer themselves in point 
of wisdom to those that are most ingeniously 
educated in arts and letters." They had deep 
veneration for marriage ; they were charitable to 
the poor, not only receiving those who were 
destitute into their huts, but supplying them 
with stock whereon to live. They would even 
lend gratis for a considerable time ten or twelve 
reindeer. They were cleanly in their habits and 
often washed their hands and face. 

2. Dwellings. 

The Laplanders lived in tents or sheds, 
fashioned differently according as their inmates 
belonged to mountain or forest. The former 
erected four posts at four corners, placing three 
rafters on top of them, so that there should be 



20 



THROUGH LAPLAND 



one on each side and one at the back. Long 
poles were then placed on the rafters so that 
their tops might rest upon and support one 
another. The poles were covered with coarse 
woollen cloths. These tents they took away 
with them when they left the place. But the 
forest-dwellers made sheds of board and posts 
that met at the top in a cone, which they 
covered with the boughs of fir and pine, or with 
the bark of those trees, and sometimes with 
turf. There were two doors ; that at the front 
was the larger and more generally used ; that 
at the back smaller and used for bringing in 
provisions and the prey obtained by hunting. 
In the centre was the hearth, surrounded by 
stones, in which there was continual fire except 
at midnight. The cooking-pot hung over it, the 
smoke going out through a hole in the roof. 
The interior was divided into spaces by means 
of logs laid along the ground; some of the 
divisions served as sleeping-rooms, others as a 
kitchen and an apartment in which to keep the 
men's hunting implements. The floor was strewn 
with branches of birch-trees, covered with rein- 
deer skins to keep out the damp, and on the 
skins the occupants were used to sit and lie. 
The master, his wife, children, and servants all 
It in the same hut. Near at hand a store- 




ANCIENT WEARING APPAREL. 
From Sbeffer's "Lapland.'' 



To face p. .20. 



THE LAPLANDER OF OLD 21 



house for their goods and provisions was erected. 
They cut off the upper part of a tree to about 
15 or 18 ft. from the ground, and placed on 
it two rafters crosswise, 1 and built their repository 
on them of boards, making the door in the 
bottom, so that when the man left it, "the 
door falls-to like a trapdoor and all things are 
safe." They went up by ladders made of the 
trunks of trees in which notches were cut like 
stairs. They were built high up in this fashion 
in order to prevent bears and other wild beasts 
from getting at the contents. 

3. Deess. 

In summer their garments were of homespun 
woollen cloth, and in winter of reindeer skins. 
Their shoes and gloves were of the same material, 
stuffed with hay to make them warm ; the shoes 
were worn on the bare feet without stockings. 
Both men and women wore their garments next 
their skin without any linen underneath, for they 
had no flax in the country. They covered their 
heads with a cloth cap which reached down to 
and partly covered their shoulders, "leaving only 
a space for them to see through." The cap kept 
them warm in winter and protected them from 
mosquitoes in summer. In all clothing the hair 
1 In the figure of an X. 



22 



THROUGH LAPLAND 



of the skin was worn outside. There was little 
difference in the apparel of the sexes, especially 
in winter, since the women must then wear 
breeches a by reason of the deep snows, storms, 
and badness of the ways." Both the men and 
women were fond of ornaments, and upon festi- 
vals and holidays, instead of the customary 
plain leather girdle, wore one ornamented with 
silver or tin studs according to the wealth of 
the wearer. They also hung chains about their 
necks. The women's girdles were much broader 
than the men's, and those worn on highdays 
and holidays w T ere ornamented with tin or silver 
plates of the length of a finger engraved with 
" shapes of birds and flowers," the plates laid so 
close together that the leather fillet was entirely 
covered with them. They hung chains on the 
girdles and many rings and trinkets on the 
chains. The weight was often as much as twenty 
pounds ; they were specially pleased by the rings, 
" the jingling of which is very grateful to their 
ear, and, as they think, no small commendation 
to their beauty." They sometimes wore a sort 
of breastplate of coloured cloth ornamented with 
engraved metal studs. At fairs, weddings, and 
feasts they covered their heads with a red 
kerchief. There was no difference in the attire 
of married women or maidens. Neither sex wore 




SACRIFICES AND OTHER CEREMONIES. 
From Shelter's "Lapland." 




ANCIENT SKIS, SHOWING THE DIFFERENT LENGTHS. 
From Shelter's "Lapland" 



To face p. 22- 



i 




THE LAPLANDER OF OLD 23 



night clothes; they lay naked on the reindeer 
skins, covering themselves in winter with other 
skins and blankets, in summer with the blankets 
alone, making of them for their heads a kind of 
rude mosquito net. Of the use of linen or cotton 
sheets they were quite ignorant. 

4. Food. 

With regard to food, the Mountain Lapps lived 
almost wholly on their reindeer, which provided 
them with milk, cheese, and meat. Occasionally 
they bought cows, goats, and ewes from the 
neighbouring parts of Norway, which they milked 
in summer and killed in winter. In winter they 
ate chiefly boiled reindeer flesh, in summer milk, 
cheese, and dried flesh. The delicacies in greatest 
esteem were the tongue and marrow of the rein- 
deer, and such dainties were always forthcoming 
when priests were to be entertained. The Forest 
Lapps lived partly on fish and partly on birds 
and beasts. They preferred the flesh of bears, a 
dish that always appeared when they entertained 
friends. Bread and salt were almost unknown. 
Instead of the former they used dried fish, 
reduced to a kind of meal by grinding ; and 
instead of salt, the inner rind of the pine-tree 
prepared in a peculiar way. All fresh meat was 
boiled, and the broth greatly esteemed; some- 



24 



THROUGH LAPLAND 



times fish was cooked in the same vessel. The 
milk, which is very thick, was either boiled with 
water or allowed to stand in the cold to freeze 
into a kind of cheese. Fish was either eaten 
fresh as soon as caught or dried in the sun, 
when it would keep for " several years." For 
sweet dishes they prepared blackberries, straw- 
berries, wild angelica, all of which they preserved 
by boiling in their own juice without water over 
a slow fire till they were very soft; then a little 
of their salt was sprinkled over them, they were 
put into a vessel of birch-bark and buried in 
the ground, and taken out as required. Their 
chief drink was water, some of which was always 
kept hanging over the fire in a kettle to prevent 
it freezing, " out of which every one with a spoon 
takes what he pleases, and so drinks it hot, 
especially in winter-time." Also they often drink 
the broth made with the meat. Beer was un- 
known to them, but for pleasure they drank 
" spirit of wine and brandy, with a little of 
which you may win their very souls." They 
were also " very great admirers of tobacco." 
Sheffer thus describes a Laplander's meal : — 

"Their dining-room in the winter-time is that part of the 
hut where the man and his wife and daughters use to lie, 
and is on the right hand as you go in at the foregate ; but 
in summer without doors upon the green grass. Sometimes, 




LAPP MAN AND WOMAN. EEINDEER CARRYING CHILD. 
From Sheffer's " Lapland." 




ANCIENT SACRIFICES : REINDEER HORNS. 

From Sheffer's "Lapland." 



To face p. 24. 



THE LAPLANDER OF OLD 25 



too, they are wont to sit about the kettle in the middle of 
the hut. They use not much ceremony about their places, 
but every one takes it as he comes first. They seat them- 
selves upon a skin spread on the ground cross-legged in a 
round ring ; and the meat is set before them in the middle, 
upon a log or stump instead of a table ; and several have 
not that, but lay their meat upon the skin which they sit 
on. Having taken the flesh out of the kettle, the common 
sort put it upon a woollen tablecloth, the richer on a 
linen ; as for trenchers and dishes, they are quite unknown 
to them. But if any liquid thing is to be served up, they 
put it in a kind of tray made of birch. Sometimes without 
any other ceremony every one takes his share out of the 
kettle and puts it upon his gloves or his cap. Their drink 
they take up in a wooden ladle, which serves instead of 
plate. And it is farther observable that they are abominable 
gluttons when they can get meat enough, and yet hardy 
too to endure the most pinching hunger when they are 
forced to it. When their meal is ended they just give God 
thanks, and then they mutually exhort one another to Faith 
and Charity, taking each other by the right hand, which is 
a symbol of their unity and brotherhood." 

The last act reminds us of the still prevailing 
Swedish custom of shaking hands and wish- 
ing each other " Smaklig Maltid " at the end 
of a meal, but otherwise the description points 
to curiously uncivilized conditions for any 
European people at the end of the seventeenth 
century. 

5. Customs. 

Nothing perhaps more marks the difference 
between earlier times and our own than the 



26 



THROUGH LAPLAND 



views concerning large families. Sheffer re- 
cords with a suspicion of reproach that, much 
as the Laplanders desire " fruitful matrimony, 
eight children is the largest number they can 
produce, " and usually they beget but one, two, 
or three." Their barrenness was accounted for 
in three ways : poor diet, the extreme cold, and 
God's anger incurred by their " obstinateness in 
maintaining their ancient impieties." As soon 
as the child was born it was washed, but first 
in cold water or snow, and then dipped, the 
head excepted, in hot water. The new-born 
infant was wrapped in a hare's skin by w T ay of 
swaddling-clothes. Baptism took place a fort- 
night after birth, when the mother would 
" undertake a most tedious journey over the 
tops of mountains through wide marshes and 
high w r oods with her infant to the priest; 
for the women of this country are natur- 
ally hardy and able to endure anything without 
trouble, and therefore, though they feed upon 
coarse food in their sickness, and drink nothing 
else but water, yet they recover again quickly." 
In winter the infant was placed in a sledge, and 
in summer the cradle, made of the trunk of a 
tree hollowed out like a boat and covered with 
leather, was fastened, with the infant inside, to 
the pack-saddle of the reindeer. The mother 



THE LAPLANDER OF OLD 27 



nursed her child, sometimes for years, but if for 
any reason she could not suckle the child her- 
self, it was nourished on reindeer milk admin- 
istered in a bottle. But almost directly after 
birth pieces of reindeer flesh are thrust into 
the babe's mouth so that it may suck the gravy 
out of it. 

As regards education, the father instructed the 
boys and the mother the girls " in all necessary 
arts." There were few or no schools or school- 
masters. The boys were taught to shoot, and 
received rewards for skill in the art. The father 
made provision for his daughter by bestowing 
on her, soon after birth, a female reindeer, whose 
horns were engraved with "her mark so as to 
prevent all controversies or quarrels that may 
arise concerning her right." Another was given 
her when she cut her first tooth. Those beasts 
with their progeny were preserved for the future 
use of the girl, whose parents often added gifts 
of others. 

Thus when a young man purposed to marry, 
he looked out for a girl "well stocked with rein- 
deer." He cared nothing for " good-breeding or 
beauty or the other common allurements of 
wooers." When he had decided upon the 
maiden, he went to her parents, taking with 
him his own father and one or two others likely 



<28 



rHROUGH LAPLAND 



to be welcome to the family he desired to enter, 
and especially one to be spokesman, and so win 
the favour of the bride's parents. That per- 
sonage, in making the demand, in order to 
achieve more success, " honours the father with 
the greatest titles and names of renown that he 
can devise, at every one bowing the knee as if 
he were treating with a prince. He styles him 
the High and Mighty Father, the Worshipful 
Father, as if he were one of the patriarchs, the 
Best and Most Illustrious Father, and no doubt, 
if they were acquainted with the Koyal title of 
His Majesty, he would not scruple to call him 
the Most Majestic Father." Not until every- 
thing was settled by the parents was the suitor 
allowed to approach the girl, who was invariably 
sent away upon some errand while the negotia- 
tions were going forward. Then he saluted her 
with a kiss, " in which that they mainly aim at 
is, that each not only apply his mouth to the 
other's, but also that both their noses touch, for 
otherwise it goes not for a true salute." Then 
after more ceremonies the girl consented and 
the couple were engaged. The wedding was 
often deferred for two or three years, because 
during the time of courtship the suitor was 
compelled continually to make handsome presents 
to the girl's parents and friends, without whose 



THE LAPLANDER OF OLD 29 



consent he could not marry her, and to travel 
backwards and forwards to visit her. He solaced 
his journey with the singing of Lappish love songs, 
of which the following serves as an example : — 



Kulnasatz, my reindeer, 

We have a long journey to go ; 

The moors are vast, 

And we must haste, 
Our strength, I fear, 
Will fail if we are slow 

And so 
Our songs will do. 



Kaige, the watery moor 

Is pleasant unto me, 

Though long it be ; 
Since it doth to my mistress lead, 

Whom I adore, 

The Kilwa moor, 
I ne'er again will tread. 



Thoughts fill'd my mind 
Whilst I thro' Kaige past, 

Swift as the wind, 

And my desire 
Winged with impatient fire. 
My reindeer, let us haste. 



So shall we quickly end our pleasing pain : 

Behold my mistress there, 
With decent motion walking o'er the plain 

Kulnasatz, my reindeer, 



30 



THROUGH LAPLAND 



Look yonder, where 
She washes in the lake. 
See while she swims, 
The waters from her purer limbs 
New clearness take. 

The day before the wedding the bridegroom 
had to make handsome presents to the bride's 
parents, brothers and sisters, and near relations. 
The marriage was celebrated in church. In the 
bridal procession the men walked first and the 
women followed. The bride was led between a 
man and a woman, and the etiquette was for 
her to allow herself to be dragged along, to 
simulate " great unwillingness and reluctancy" 
to be wed, "and therefore in her countenance 
made show of extraordinary sadness and dejec- 
tion." After the ceremony came the wedding 
feast, to which " each of the persons invited 
contributed his share of the victuals." Those 
who could not find room in the small hut — the 
boys and girls, for instance — climbed up on the 
roof of the hut " and from thence let down 
threads with hooks tied to them, to which they 
fasten pieces of meat and the like, so that they 
also enjoy their share of the banquet." The 
bridegroom's tribulations were not yet over. He 
had to wait still a year before he was allowed to 
carry away his wife and her goods and fortune. 



THE LAPLANDER OF OLD 31 



In spite of the hard life, the Laplanders 
enjoyed good health and were singularly immune 
from the diseases that afflicted other European 
peoples. Fever and the plague were almost 
unknown. Sore eyes were common, and not 
seldom produced blindness in old age. The 
trouble was to be attributed to the smoke which 
habitually filled their huts. Their internal 
medicines were the root of a kind of moss and 
the stalk of angelica ; for external application 
for wounds or frostbite, resin or cheese was used. 
They lived to a good old age, reaching seventy, 
eighty, and ninety years, and even then " many 
of them are still sufficiently brisk and lively, 
able to manage their business with expedition, 
to take a journey, to course through woods and 
mountains, and to perform other such labour." 

When any one was dying, if any persons 
present were versed in the Christian religion, 
" they exhort him in his agonies to think of 
God and Christ." If they were regardless of 
religion, they instantly abandoned the sick per- 
son, careful only about the funeral banquet, 
which they sometimes began to celebrate before 
the dying person was quite dead. If a church 
chanced to be not too far off, the coffin was 
taken thither for burial in the churchyard. But 
if it was at some considerable distance, the 



32 



THROUGH LAPLAND 



coffin was carried on a sledge to some con- 
venient spot and there interred. At the funeral 
they always wore their oldest and shabbiest 
clothes. The funeral ceremonies abounded in 
superstitions, for Christian doctrines penetrated 
very slowly into Lapland and were only gradually 
accepted. Some of the beliefs as to the life 
after death were almost as concrete as those of 
the Egyptians. The Laplanders would some- 
times "bury with their deceased first a hatchet 
and next a Hint and steel, so that if ever they shall 
come to rise again in that darkness they shall 
have great need of springing a light ; to which 
the flint and steel may help them, as likewise 
there will be occasion for a ready way, wherein 
they may travel to Heaven, to which purpose 
their hatchet may stand them in stead, them 
especially that are buried among thick woods, 
that if any trees obstruct their passage they 
may cut them down." The hatchet was the 
principal weapon in use among the seventeenth- 
century Laplanders, and the long period of 
darkness rendered it most necessary to have the 
means of artificial light at hand, and believing 
" that after the resurrection they shall take the 
same course of life they led before, for that 
reason they furnish them with the same 
utensils. " 



THE LAPLANDER OF OLD 33 



6. Employments and Industries. 

Hunting was the chief employment in Lap- 
land. It varied with the season of the year and 
the size of the prey. In summer they hunted 
on foot with dogs, " which are very good in these 
parts, not only for their scent, but that they 
dare set upon anything, being still 1 tied up to 
make them more fierce." In winter the men 
themselves ran down their quarry, sliding over 
the frozen snow on their " skier" 2 — smooth 
pieces of wood, one shorter than the other, 
about 8 ft. long and 4 in. broad, turned up 
in front and fastened to the feet by a withe 
run through the sides. The feet were placed in 
the middle, so that the length of wood before 
and behind prevented them from sinking into 
the snow. A long staff was carried in the hand, 
and to the end a large round piece of wood was 
fastened to keep it from going deep into the 
snow. Thus equipped, they propelled themselves 
along very swiftly, not only over level ground, 
but in the roughest places, " and there is no hill 
or rock so steep but with winding and turning 
they can at last come up to the top, and that 
which is a greater miracle, will slide down the 
steepest places without danger." The skis were 
1 I.e. constantly. 2 The modern ski. 

4 



34 



THROUGH LAPLAND 



covered with the skins of young reindeer, of 
which the hairs acted like bristles against the 
snow and prevented slipping backwards. Small 
beasts were hunted with bow and arrows, large 
ones with spears and guns. They were so ex- 
pert in the handling of their weapons that 
against animals of which the skins were valu- 
able, such as ermines, squirrels, and beavers, 
they could always direct the blow where it would 
do least harm to the fur. Wolves were the 
chief quarry, because they were very numerous 
and did much damage. They were either caught 
by holes or shot, or scythes were hidden under 
the snow to cut off their legs. 

The most profitable hunting was reindeer and 
bears. Eeindeer are peculiar to Lapland, and 
were caught in various ways and soon domesti- 
cated. Among the methods employed were 
enticing the males to the tame does in the 
autumn, when the huntsman would shoot them 
from behind ; or in the spring, when the snow 
is deep, the men would slide after the deer and 
easily take them, or drive them into traps with 
dogs, or set up hurdles and chase the animals 
in between them, so that they must fall into 
holes purposely made. 

The hunting of the bear was a much more 
ceremonious proceeding, and attended with many 



THE LAPLANDER OF OLD 35 



superstitions. First the bears' den had to be 
discovered in the winter, and that done, the 
finder invited his friends and acquaintances 
"with much joy" to the hunting, " as to a 
solemn and magnificent feast," for bear's flesh 
was considered a great delicacy. But the actual 
sport had to be deferred until March or April, 
when ski could be used. The drum 1 had also to 
be consulted in order to find out if the hunting 
would be prosperous. Then the finder of the 
den, now called " the captain," went forth 
armed with a club, followed by the others, to 
each of whom was allotted a fixed duty. Some 
had to kill the bear with spears and guns ; one 
had to boil the flesh, another to divide it; a 
third had to gather sticks ; and so on. When 
the bear was despatched a hymn of victory was 
sung, and the animal was placed on a sledge and 
dragged by reindeer to the hut where it was to 
be cooked. In the feast that followed the men 
and women were separated. The killing of a 
bear was accounted a great honour to a man, 
and the women worked crosses in wire on cloth 
for the men to put in their caps, one for every 
bear killed. 

In summer they shot birds, and in winter 
snared them. All kinds of waterfowl abounded, 
1 See p. 45. 



36 



THROUGH LAPLAND 



as well as stock-doves, ptarmigan, and wood- 
cock. Fish were plentiful in the rivers and 
lakes, among them salmon, pike, perch, and a 
species of carp. 

One of the chief industries was the making of 
boats and sledges. The former were made of pine 
or deal boards sewed together with reindeer's 
sinews and caulked with moss to keep out the 
water. They were propelled by means of two or 
four oars fastened to pegs in the sides. 

The sledges, called pulkas, the pattern of which 
remains the same to-day, were fashioned like a 
boat, the prow turned up, with a hole in it for 
the cord which harnessed the reindeer to it. 
The poop consisted of one flat board. There were 
no runners, the convex bottom enabling the pulka 
to roll any way and be more easily drawn over 
the snow. The reindeer was guided by a halter 
made of sealskin tied round his head or horns 
and fastened to a stick which the driver held in 
one hand, moving the thong to either side accord- 
ing to the direction in which he desired to go ; 
with the other hand he guided the sledge, or 
rather balanced himself, taking care that it did 
not upset. They could travel thus at the rate 
of twenty miles an hour. Women were as expert 
in this mode of travelling as men. As will be 
seen later, this way of travelling still prevails, and 



THE LAPLANDER OF OLD 37 



is, with ski-ing, the only method by which it is 
possible to get about in Lapland to-day. 

Basket-making was an important industry, and 
Sheffer declares that no nation could compete 
with them in the art. The baskets were made of 
the roots of trees, and on occasion were woven 
so neatly and closely that they held water like a 
solid vessel, and for their excellence and strength 
were exported to distant countries. 

Women were the tailors and shoemakers ; they 
made all the clothes, shoes, boots, and gloves, and 
the harness, such as it was, for the draught rein- 
deer. They purchased linen and woollen cloth 
from Norwegian merchants and embroidered it 
with a sort of tin wire. Such embroidery was 
employed on gowns, boots, gloves, and shoes, " and 
she that doth it neatest is preferred before other 
women, and had in greater estimation." 

7. Eeligion. 

Prior to their conversion to Christianity the 
Laplanders were said to be like " wild animals, 
living in impassable deserts, in stone crevices, 
who had no temples, nor any other human 
dwellings, feeding on animals, beasts, birds, and 
sea fish, and their clothes were made of reindeer 
skins. They knew not the true God, nor our 
Saviour Lord Jesus Christ." According to modern 



38 THROUGH LAPLAND 



explorers three religious factors swayed their 
minds : worship of ancestors, worship of the forces 
of nature, and worship of idols (fetichism). They 
had their own sacrificial rites, while witchcraft 
and magic held an important place among them. 
Their priests or sorcerers, called " kebunes," 
enjoyed great honour. When bringing sacrifices, 
the kebunes behaved like demoniacs ; w r ood piles 
blazed, reindeer blood flowed to the accompani- 
ment of tambourines, while, foaming at the 
mouth, they pronounced in a loud voice words 
of exorcism ; the tangled hair on their heads, the 
bushy grey eyebrows, the eyes projecting from 
the orbits, the contortions of the body, the sound 
of the necklaces and the bells on the clothes of 
the kebunes, terrified the simple-minded, credulous 
Laplanders. 

Sheffer states that it is very difficult to decide 
when and how the Laplanders " first began to 
hear of Christ's name," because " all writers are 
silent therein." Although it is both possible and 
probable that they heard of Christ earlier, the 
Christian religion does not seem to have taken 
any root in Lapland until 1277. Even then 
reasons for accepting it were rather material than 
spiritual, for they neither wholly embraced nor 
wholly refused Christianity, " but retained it with 
an inveterate, and as it were Jewish prejudice, not 



THE LAPLANDER OF OLD 39 



out of any zeal, or preferring it as more necessary 
for their welfare before their former religion ; but 
outwardly only and in show, esteeming it the 
best means to gain their prince's favour, and 
to prevent those evils which threatened them if 
they should persist in their obstinacy." So they 
consented to be married by a Christian priest 
and to have their children baptized according to 
the rites of the Church. In fact, there is every 
reason to think that until the time of Gustavus 
Vasa, 1 Christianity in Lapland differed "from 
their ancient paganism only in name and a few 
external rites whereby they laboured to make 
the world believe that they were Christians." 
Gustavus instituted a new custom in the part 
of Lapland under his government : that the in- 
habitants should meet at a fixed time in the 
winter at an appointed place for the purpose of 
paying their tribute to the King's officers and of 
being instructed in the Gospel by the priests. 
Moreover, they had to undergo a sort of examina- 
tion in what they had learned the year before. 
"Nor were they obliged only to a bare hearing 
of the word, but to a diligent attention, because 
they were to be catechized afterwards and give 
an account of their progress, so that now it was 
that they began to be Christians in good earnest." 
1 He reigned over Sweden 1523-60. 



40 



THROUGH LAPLAND 



However this may have been, the truth pene- 
trated very slowly, for in 1556 Gustavus com- 
plained that there were many who had never 
been baptized. A superstition lingered that adults 
who were baptized would die within the week 
after. 

Churches and schools were first endowed by 
Gustavus Adolphus and Queen Christina in the 
first half of the seventeenth century, although their 
predecessor, Charles IX, had two churches built in 
1600 and 1603 respectively in the part of Lapland 
under his jurisdiction. By 1673 there were thir- 
teen churches in Lapland. Schools were estab- 
lished because Gustavus Adolphus saw that the 
Laplanders gained little advantage from the 
Swedish priests, who used a language their flock 
could not understand, 1 and also because the 
severity of the climate and the coarse diet " killed 
a greater part of the priests, who had been used 
to a better climate, and made the rest more un- 
willing to undergo this hardship." Schoolmasters 
were ordered to translate Swedish books into the 
" Laplandish tongue," for the Laplanders "were 
wholly ignorant of letters and had not a book 
writ in their language." As an encouragement 

1 11 Their ministers using only the Swedish tongue, they 
learnt something but understood it not, and muttered some 
prayers, but they knew not what." 



THE LAPLANDER OF OLD 41 

to send the children to school, Gustavus Adolphus 
allowed money for their food, clothing, and " other 
necessaries." 

Although in the beginning there was opposi- 
tion on the part of the natives to the " preaching 
of the Word of God," some advancement was 
made. It was enacted that a third part of the 
reindeer which they were obliged to pay to the 
Crown should be paid to the priests, and the tax, 
consisting of two pair of shoes or a white fox 
or a pound of pike, should be equally divided 
between the King and the priest, " which makes 
not only the priests more cheerful in doing their 
duty but the people also more diligent in their 
performances." They probably thought that they 
might as well get something for their money. 
They became more observant of Sunday, " re- 
fraining both themselves and their cattle from all 
work on that day, and sometimes on the day 
before; nay, there are some who refuse to milk 
their reindeer on Sundays." By 1634 it is re- 
corded : " There appears another face of religion 
in Lapland than that there was in former ages, 
because the Kings have taken greater care in 
providing for churches, schools, books, ministers, 
and schoolmasters." 

In spite of all the teaching of the priests, the 
Laplanders' devotion to their ancient and pagan 



42 THROUGH LAPLAND 



superstitions still lingered. Several causes are 
suggested. Some of the people lived more than 
two hundred miles from a church. Others held 
their ancestors in such veneration that they con- 
sidered them "more wise than to have been 
ignorant of what god ought to be adored ; where- 
fore out of reverence to them they will not recede 
from their opinions, lest they should seem to 
reprove them of ignorance or impiety." 

Like the Egyptians, they distinguished between 
lucky and unlucky days. Among unlucky or 
" black" days were the feasts of St. Catherine 
and St. Mark, when the people abstained from 
hunting, because if they did their bows and 
arrows would be broken, and they would be un- 
successful in the sport the whole year; and the 
first day of Christmas, when masters of families 
"go not out of their cottages, not so much as to 
church, but send their children and servants, for 
fear of I know not what spirits and demons which 
they suppose to wander about the air in great 
companies upon that day." 

They were great believers in omens. The 
success of the day would be prognosticated from 
the first beast they met in the morning. Women 
were forbidden to go out of the door through 
which the man went out to his hunting, 
because if they trod in his steps he would be 



THE LAPLANDER OF OLD 43 



" unprosperous " in his day's sport. But not 
only were they superstitious ; they also clung to 
" heathenish " beliefs and customs, often joining 
the pagan gods with God and Christ and "pay- 
ing them equal reverence and worship." The 
chief god they continued to worship was Tiermes, 
or Thunder ! 1 They believed that he bestowed 
life upon them, preserved their health, drove away 
the demons prejudicial to their hunting, fowling, 
and fishing, and only harmed them if their 
offences deserved it. They believed also that 
they could not die except it were his pleasure. 
Next came the god Storjunkare, whom they sup- 
posed to be Tiermes's lieutenant. They believed 
Storjunkare had power over all beasts and could 
give them to whom he willed; and as the Lap- 
landers were dependent on their reindeer for sup- 
plying them with food and clothing, the worship 
paid to Storjunkare is easily understood. It is 
told that he often appeared to fowlers or fishers 
"in the shape of a tall, personable man, habited 
like a nobleman, with a gun in his hand and his 
feet like those of a bird." His appearance always 
betokened successful sport. And lastly they 
worshipped the sun, whom they called Baiwe, 
the giver of the light and heat of which they 
received so little and on which the welfare of 
1 The Scandinavian Thor. 



44 



THROUGH LAPLAND 



their reindeer so largely depended. For " as 
they live in a cold country, where their native 
heat is diminished and often wholly extinguished, 
and having nothing to sustain themselves with 
but the flesh of reindeer, they think it very fit 
to pay the sun very great honours, who is the 
author of so great blessings to them, and who 
at his turn restores them that light which they 
lost by his departure, and that not for a day or 
two, but for several weeks, which being paid, the 
new day seems more welcome to them by reason 
of long absence." 

Images were set up to these gods, often in 
hidden places in order to avoid the suspicion of 
impiety. Thor's image was always made of birch 
wood, Storjunkare's of stone, often of no shape, 
but just a broken piece of rock as they found it 
lying on the ground. Occasionally some par- 
ticular rather inaccessible rock or hill would be 
dedicated to the worship of Storjunkare. 1 The 
sacrifices and ceremonies to these gods were only 
celebrated by men ; it was esteemed a great 
crime for a woman to offer sacrifice or to frequent 
the consecrated places. Before offering sacrifice 
they always inquired of the god, by means of 
their drums, if it would be pleasing to him to 
accept it. 

1 The idea of an obelisk. 



THE LAPLANDER OF OLD 45 



The Laplanders, at least as late as the seven- 
teenth century, were celebrated for their skill in 
magic ; and although the practice of the art was 
" severely prohibited by the King of Sweden," 
there were still many who " gave themselves 
wholly unto this study." The reason for this 
lingering belief seems to have been " that every 
one thinks it the surest way to defend himself 
from the injuries and malicious designs of others ; 
for they commonly profess that their knowledge 
in these things is absolutely necessary for their 
own security. Upon which account they have 
teachers and professors in this science; and 
parents in their last will bequeath to their chil- 
dren as the greatest part of their estate those 
spirits and devils that have been anyways ser- 
viceable to them in their lifetime." 

The chief instrument of their magic was a 
drum, peculiar to the Laplanders. It was made of 
a hollow piece of wood, taken from either a pine, 
fir, or birch tree that in growing turned according 
to the sun's course, that is, " when the grain of 
the wood running from the bottom to the top of 
the tree winds itself from the right hand to the 
left." A skin was stretched over the hollow or 
concave side. Two holes were made in the 
convex side, into which the fingers were inserted 
to hold it. It resembled a kettledrum, but was 



46 



THROUGH LAPLAND 



neither so round nor so hollow. Upon the skin 
they painted pictures in red. 1 Lines were drawn 
across near the middle, upon which were placed 
the gods to whom they paid the greatest worship, 
such as Thor and Storjunkare. On another line, 
drawn parallel but only half across, stood the 
image of Christ with some of His Apostles. 
Whatever was drawn above those two lines re- 
presented birds, stars, and the moon; in the 
centre of the drum came the sun, and below it 
terrestrial things and living creatures, such as 
bears, wolves, reindeer, otters, foxes, serpents, as 
well as marshes, lakes, and rivers. The drawings 
on the drums were not, however, all alike. There 
was much variety in the objects represented and 
in their arrangement. Sometimes a rough sort 
of map would be drawn. A hammer fashioned 
of a reindeer's horn branching like a fork was 
used by way of drumstick, not so much to make 
a noise as to move the bunch of brass rings laid 
upon the drum, the positions taken by the rings 
giving the answers to the questions asked. 

The type of questions included when and where 
certain wild beasts could be found; if a tame 
reindeer was lost, how he might be recovered ; if 
the reindeer's young ones will live ; if the fishing 
will be successful; if sick men will recover or 
1 With a stain made from the bark of the alder-tree. 



THE LAPLANDER OF OLD 47 



die; if women will be safely delivered of their 
babes ; if a sacrifice will be pleasing to the god, 
and what shape it should take. Some even be- 
lieved that by means of the drum they could 
discover the state of affairs in foreign countries; 
what success their designs in hand would have ; 
and how to cure diseases. The Laplanders so 
firmly believed that whatever they did was done 
by the aid of the drum that they took the 
greatest care of it, wrapping it, with the hammer 
and index, in a "loomskin" 1 and laying it in 
some secret place. So sacred and holy was it 
considered that no maid that was marriageable 
was permitted to touch it, just as she was not 
allowed to approach the altars of the gods; if 
the drum had to be removed, it was carried last 
of all, and by men only, and generally by some 
untrodden way, that nobody might meet or follow 
them. 



The Lappish language belongs to the Finno- 
Ugrian group. It is certainly akin to Finnish, 
as the following list of words proves : — 



8. Language. 



God 
Fire 



Lappish. 
Jubmar or Immel 
Tolle 



Finnish. 

Jumata 
Tuli 



1 The skin of a bird that lives wholly in the water. 



THROUGH LAPLAND 



Foot ... 
Bird ... 
Father 
Mother 
Brother 
Wife ... 



Wood... 
Eye ... 



Hill 



Day ... 
Night... 
Eiver ... 
Lake ... 
Ice 



Lappish. 

Paiwe 

Ii 

Jocki 

Jaur 

Jenga 

Warra 

Medz 

Silmae 

Ialk 

Lodo 

Atkia 

Am 



Finnish. 
Paiwa 
Y03 



Jocki 

Jarwi 

Iaeae 

Wuori 

Medza 

Silmae 

Ialka 

Lindu 

Aja 



Ama 
Weli 



Wellje 



Morswi 



Morsian 



But, notwithstanding, much of their language 
is their own, and neither used by nor known to 
other nations. There are several dialects, and, 
indeed, those that live in one part of the country 
can only with difficulty understand those who 
dwell in the other. 

The Lapps have a peculiar way of pronouncing 
words. They mouth them out so that the vowels 
may be distinctly heard, but the consonants are 
sounded very softly, and they cut off and drown 
the last syllables, especially of nouns. 

The nouns are declined thus : — 



Nom 
Gen. 
Dat. 



Immele 
Immela 



Sing. 
Immel (God) 



Plur. 
Immeleck 
Immeliig 
Immewoth 



THE LAPLANDER OF OLD 49 





Sing. 


Plur. 


Acc. 


Immel 


Immeliidh 


Voc. 


6 Immel 


6 Immaeleck 


Abl. 


Immelist 


Immaeliie 


Norn. 


Olmai (man) 


Olmack 


Gen. 


Olma 


Olmaig 


Dat. 


Olmas 


Olmaid 


Acc. 


Olma 


Olmaig 


Voc. 


6 Olmai 


6 Olmack 


Abl. 


Olmasfe 


Olmaija 



The verbs have conjugations, moods, tenses, 
and persons, e.g. : — 



Mun pworastan 


I love 


Turn pworastack 


Thou lovest 


Sun pworasta 


He loves 


Mii pworastop 


We love 


Sii pworost 


You love 


Tack pwrost 


They love 


Mun laem 


I am 


Tun laeck 


Thou art 


Sun lia 


He is 


Mii laep 


We are 


Sii lae 


You are 


Tack lae 


They are 



Adjectives have degrees of comparison, as 
stronre, great ; stonrapo, greater ; stonramus, 
greatest. 

The language, however, such as it is, is only 
used among the Lapps themselves, and in all 
negotiations with others they are obliged to 

5 



50 THROUGH LAPLAND 



resort to interpreters, of whom a great number 
are available. 

The following, which was given to the author 
in Karasjok, is the Lord's Prayer in Lappish, 
and it serves to show how difficult the language 
is to read and pronounce. 

Acce min, don gutte laek almin ! Basotuvvus du namma ! 
Bottus du rika! Saddus du datto, moft alroest, nuft maidai 
aednam aide ! Adde migjidi odna baeive min juokkebaeivalas 
laibbamek ! Ja adde migjidi min velgidaemek andagassi, 
nuftgo migis andagassi addep min vaelgolazaidasamek ! Ja 
ale doalvo min gaeccalusa sisa ! Mutto baeste min bahasfc 
erit ! Dastgo du lae rika, fabmo ja gudne agalasvutti. 
Amen. 



CHAPTEE III 



THE LAPLANDER OP TO-DAY 

Modern Lapland — Routes and conditions of travel—Reindeer, wolves 
and dogs — The pulka: the Lapp travelling coach — Ski-ing — 
The Lapland winter — Ways of life — Social customs — Marriage — 
Burial rites— Village communal meetings : " Sooim "—A native 
on life in Lapland. 

Modern Lapland belongs partly to Eussia, 
Sweden, and Norway, but mostly to Eussia. It 
extends from latitude 64° North to the Arctic 
Ocean and from the Atlantic coast to the White 
Sea on the eastern shore opposite Archangel. 
Eussian Lapland covers 100,000 and Norwegian 
and Swedish Lapland 50,000 square miles. On 
the map the country looks as large as France and 
half Germany. The population is not precisely 
known, but is possibly not more than thirty 
thousand. 

Some parts of the country are very moun- 
tainous, and above the tree line nothing grows 
except moss. The highest mountain is Kebne- 

51 



52 THROUGH LAPLAND 



kaise, about four or five days' journey there and 
back from Kiruna. It is 6,964 ft. high, and a 
tourist hut belonging to the Tourist Union at 
Stockholm is erected on the summit. There are 
many fine forests on the Murman coast con- 
taining wolves, bears, foxes, and elks. The 
rivers Tana, Petchenga, and Alten are noted 
for large salmon. There are a multitude of 
different birds in the summer, and in the winter 
quantities of white ptarmigan, which are ex- 
ported. 

1. Koutes and Conditions of Travel. 

Living in a cold climate like England, which 
is only habitable with the aid of the Gulf Stream, 
makes it natural to go north, and once above 
the Polar Circle one feels a different being. 
Monte Carlo for society, dust, wind, and at 
times cold, Cairo for heat, and British East 
Africa for big-game shooting, are interesting to 
visit; but for a real health-giving holiday and 
rest, latitude 64° and higher is difficult to beat. 
In a few years it will rival Switzerland and large 
hotels will be built. 

The best time to leave London is about the 
end of March. 

There are several ways of reaching Lapland. 
Firstly, by the railway to Kiruna in Sweden, the 



THE LAPLANDER OF TO-DAY 53 



best route for the traveller who does not like to 
face a long sea passage. The traveller can cross 
from Dover to Ostend and go by rail all the 
way, except for the short ferry steamer via 
Copenhagen, and reach Stockholm in forty- 
four hours. From Stockholm the train runs to 
Narvik, and the traveller can alight at Kiruna, 
where there is an excellent station hotel, and 
soon be among the Lapps in Karesuando. The 
Swedish trains are very comfortable and cheap. 
There is no first-class, but the second-class, 
with sleeping berths and a restaurant car part 
of the way, is equal to any other first-class 
train. 

Another route is to take a Wilson boat from 
Hull to Christiania, train to Trondhjem, and the 
Norwegian mail steamer to Hammerfest, and 
enter Lapland from Bosskop. A longer route 
is via Moscow and Archangel by train to the 
Murman coast, to Alexandrovsk, or by the new 
railway from Petrograd to Alexandrovsk. 

Most of the sea passage along the Norwegian 
coast is in smooth water in the fjords. The 
steamers have splendid accommodation, post 
office, newspapers, and a library on board, and 
the captain and officers are most kind and oblig- 
ing. The pilots are skilled in their profession, 
and the ships are not crowded at that time of 



54 



THROUGH LAPLAND 



the year. The guides to Norway and Sweden 
give all particulars of this well-known beaten 
track, including the towns of Trondhjem, Tromsd, 
and the Lofoten Islands. 

Arriving at Hammerfest, which is five days 
from London, motor-boats can be obtained or 
the regular steamer to Alten ; the latter stops at 
many of the stations. If time is a consideration, 
the former plan is best. 

To travel with comfort and pleasure in Lapland, 
it is essential to adopt the dress, habits, and 
customs of the natives. At first, the traveller 
naturally finds it difficult to do this. Rising at 
five o'clock in the morning every day, we gene- 
rally got away at nine o'clock, and between these 
hours we cooked the meal of the day. It was 
really dinner at 7.30 a.m., which consisted of a 
huge cauldron of reindeer meat and bouillon with 
bread and good butter, coffee, and some of our 
own provisions and porridge. The idea of dining 
in the morning before starting was very practical, 
since it kept the body warm for the whole day, 
and we could never say when we should get the 
next meal. 

In our pulkas we carried the best part of the 
reindeer venison, reindeer steaks and tongues, and 
the marrowbones of the legs, which form the 
luxury of the winter season. Reindeer milk 



THE LAPLANDER OF TO-DAY 55 



and cream are excellent, and the sour milk also 
is very wholesome. 

2. Eeindeeb, Wolves, and Dogs. 

In the winter it is impossible to travel without 
the reindeer; without its aid commercial, civil, 
and military intercourse could not be kept up, 
although now there are telegraphs and telephones 
to the principal towns in the interior, like Kauto- 
keino, Karasjok, Karesuando, Enare, and Utjoki, 
as well as a telegraph wire from Archangel to 
Petchenga and Vadso. The reindeer climb the 
frozen and snowy mountains and trot along the 
rivers, while Providence and nature have given 
these animals beneath the snow the moss to eat 
that supports them. A thousand reindeer are 
often to be seen feeding with only their hind 
quarters visible, the head and horns being covered 
up as they dig with their fore legs into the snow 
to get at the moss. 

In Eussian Lapland, at Petchenga Monastery, 
the reindeer are used by the monks for plough- 
ing and harrowing the land, and are employed 
in drawing wood and fodder. The neck, 
shoulders, and forequarters are peculiarly adapted 
by nature for pulling. The hoofs are remarkably 
broad, flat, and spreading, and when the animal 
sets down its foot it has the power of contract- 



56 THROUGH LAPLAND 



ing or spreading its hoof in a greater or lesser 
degree according to the nature of the surface of 
the ground. 

The reindeer is very helpless on ice and can 
hardly move at all, but on the snow it can spread 
its hoof as large as a horse's, which prevents it 
from sinking as deep as it would otherwise do. 
It sometimes plunges at a great depth in soft 
snow, but its enormous strength soon enables it 
to get out. 

The antlers of the reindeer are very bold and 
large, and are covered during the greater part of 
the year with a soft, dark velvety down, which 
remains till winter, when the deer throw their 
horns and look less grand — more like does. Only 
the stags are used for draught purposes, the 
does being in calf till June. 

The eye of the reindeer is very large and full, 
the outside black, and the animals always seem 
to be looking at you. 

When they walk a clicking noise is heard, 
occasioned by the contraction of the hoof; when 
rising from the ground, the inner parts of 
the hoof strike against each other. The coat 
is very thick and close and well protected 
against the severity of the climate. The 
reindeer are generally a greyish-brown, and the 
lower part of the neck a greyish- white. In many 



THE LAPLANDER OF TO-DAY 57 



herds it is common to come across one or two 
deer perfectly white. Of these the young Lapp 
girls make their paesks and shoes, which are 
very becoming, embroidered with blue, yellow, 
and red. In the winter the reindeer live 
entirely on moss. They never drink water, 
which is all frozen, but eat a good deal of 
snow when tired. No animal is more affected 
by the heat than the reindeer, and the colder 
it is the better he likes it. Eeindeer are to 
be found on the summits of mountains in the 
summer, seeking for the places where snow may 
be found. 

Wolves trouble the reindeer a good deal, 
although the latter have their horns and fore- 
feet for defence, but the reindeer cast their 
horns once a year and they grow again very 
slowly. The does never cast theirs till they 
have calved. The reindeer do not use their horns 
so much as their forefeet to defend themselves 
when they encounter wolves. Often they get up 
on their hind legs. They adopt the same atti- 
tude to the Lapps, who deal with them in quite 
a pugilistic manner; they harness them, and 
also train dogs to coax them along with the 
pulkas. 

The Lapps themselves can run very fast on 
their skis — indeed, so fast that they easily over- 



58 



THROUGH LAPLAND 



take the wolves and hit them on the nose with 
a stick, with fatal effect. 

The employment of the Mountain Laplander 
is confined entirely to the care of the deer. The 
number of deer the Laplanders possess varies 
greatly according to the individual, and it is very 
difficult in some cases to form an estimate. 

The dogs of the Laplanders are very valuable 
and extremely sagacious. The dogs generally 
lead the caravans and show the driver, or vappus, 
the winter way. If the reindeer get lazy the 
dogs go behind and try to bite their legs; the 
reindeer retaliate by hitting out with their 
forefeet. The dogs also cheer them along by 
barking in front, as if to call them on. The 
dog resembles a large Pomeranian, its head 
being sharp and pointed and ears erect. 

At Easter, in Karesuando church, I counted 
forty dogs coming and going into the church, 
following their masters up to the communion 
table. 

3. The Pulka : the Lapp Teavelling Coach. 

There are two ways of getting over the snow 
in Lapland — walking, or rather running on skis, 
and driving in the pulka, the native carriage 
drawn by reindeer. 

The Laplander has two sledges, one for 



THE LAPLANDER OF TO-DAY 59 



travelling in himself, called a pulka (bulke). It 
is like a canoe, in length 6 ft. 8J in., breadth 
1 ft. 7 in., and depth 5 \ in., rising at the back 
or stern to about 1 ft. 5 in. The head of the 
pulka comes to a point ; the stern is flat, and 
the bottom, or keel, convex. It is made of pine 
or birch and costs about twenty shillings to 
twenty-five shillings. With use they soon get 
a polish, through the friction of travelling on 
the snow, and their colouring resembles that of 
a meerschaum pipe. I generally buy one on each 
expedition and bring it back with me to England. 

Another sledge is used for carrying the reindeer 
meat, ptarmigan, and merchandise, and is called 
a kjelk or kjore achian. These are larger sledges, 
about 8 or 9 ft. in length, and in them the 
baggage is packed and covered over with rein- 
deer skins. Sometimes a hundred of these may 
be met, each drawn by one reindeer, going to 
the fair, escorted by dogs. The deer are 
fastened to the sledge in front, one Lapp having 
charge of about ten sledges. The reindeer 
generally begin to be accustomed to the sledge 
when two years old, but at first they are very 
wild and crazy. They are really very stupid 
animals, and some are very dangerous with 
their forefeet. They have no names like cows 
or dogs, and would not understand them if they 



60 THROUGH LAPLAND 

had. At the same time they are very strong 
and beautiful and know exactly when they are 
tired and have had enough work. The reindeer 
when tired will sit down, and when thirsty or 
tired will eat the snow. 

About three hundred pounds is the load a 
reindeer pulls in a pulka. The pulka in Nor- 
wegian and Swedish Lapland is only made for 
one deer. 

In Russian Lapland the author had three 
and four reindeer abreast going over the high 
Petchenga fjeld, and carried a seven-foot pole for 
balance and to touch slightly a lazy member of 
the team. The photograph here reproduced 
shows a Lapp woman, with two reindeer, carry- 
ing the Imperial mails to Archangel, through 
Kola and Kandalaks. When the "fore" is good 
and snow hard, the reindeer travel very fast at 
a trot ; they never gallop, except down hill, and 
if the gradient is very steep one or two extra 
are tied on behind to make a brake and keep 
the sledge from running in front of the deer. 
About eight miles an hour is very good going, 
and I have done this in Finland, where the deer 
are larger, tamer, and stronger. The mountain 
deer are much wilder and start off crazy at the 
least excitement. Sometimes, when caught in a 
snow blizzard and strong facing winds, we have 



V 



THE LAPLANDER OF TO-DAY 61 



only made two miles an hour, as the new snow 
is so deep and soft. 

Lapps never use the stick or the whip. It 
would be impossible for the traveller to train 
the reindeer, but the Lapp, when it is un- 
manageable and restive, soon succeeds in subdu- 
ing it by taking it into the snow where it is 
deep and soft, and then the weight of the pulka 
and driver soon makes it obedient. The Lapp 
driver (vappus) has to get out of his pulka to 
find the way or relieve his deer, and, when the 
snow is deep he has to go on foot; darkness, 
snowdrifts, or other causes may make him lose 
his bearings. 

The harness of the reindeer is very gorgeous 
when new, consisting of a collar of reindeer fur 
which passes round the neck. At the bottom 
of the collar are two small pieces of stuffed 
leather of an oval shape, which hang between 
the legs of the animal and to which is attached 
the trace, the end of it passing round them with 
a slip knot. The trace itself is single and is 
made of strong leather. It passes between the 
legs of the deer and is fastened by a small 
transverse piece of wood into an iron ring at 
the fore part of the sledge. 

Round the body of the deer is a broad belly- 
band of coloured cloth, through which the trace 



62 



THROUGH LAPLAND 



passes below. The object of this is to keep the 
trace steady and prevent it hampering the legs 
of the animal. Bound the neck is a broad 
loose band or collar of cloth, red or blue, em- 
broidered with yellow, to which is suspended a 
large bell, the sound of which keeps the caravan 
together, and is the only sound sometimes to be 
heard in the quiet snow, save the rustling of 
the wind in the trees. 

The headstall of the bridle, which is a strip 
of sealskin, is merely fastened round the head 
of the deer and is almost similar to a halter, 
entering the mouth, the knot being close under 
the ear, where the rein part commences, which 
is composed also of a single strip of seal- 
skin. 

The whole of the harness is exceedingly simple 
and very strong. If it' were not strong the 
driver might easily find himself left behind, 
and the deer, suddenly loosed, escaping up to 
the mountains. 

At first one feels cramped in a pulka, but no 
sledge could be so well contrived for crossing 
the country as this used by the Laplanders. It 
is simply a skate, on which the driver sits, with 
sides and a backboard. There are three posi- 
tions — one sitting straight, facing the deer; one 
sitting sideways, with one leg in and one out ; 



THE LAPLANDER OF TO-DAY 63 



and the other lying flat down when one wants 
to sleep. 

Often when crossing the lakes and long rivers 
the deer are tied to the vappus in front, and one 
can sleep for hours with the arms outside, keeping 
the balance subconsciously. 

As soon as the driver is in the sledge the deer 
sets off at full speed. The rein is held in the 
right hand, fastened round the wrist by a slip- 
knot, and then doubled once or twice round the 
hand to keep it firm. With the rein round the 
wrist, if the driver gets overturned in the snow 
the deer cannot get away, and he soon manages 
to roll in again. 

The skill of the driver lies in being able to 
keep the rein either to the right or left by 
throwing it over the animal's back. To increase 
the speed he can flank and make a noise with 
the mouth. Swinging the rein suddenly round 
to the left side, which is the easiest of any, 
causes the deer immediately to stop ; over to 
the right, to quicken the pace. I must, however, 
confess that I was never able to work this plan 
with success. The greatest difficulty is to keep 
the rein on the right side and the trace between 
the legs, and it is well to practise casting it 
quickly and easily from one side to the other. 

At first it is no easy matter to preserve the 



64 THROUGH LAPLAND 



balance in the pulka, and many times the inex- 
perienced driver is turned out and rolled over, 
the deer stopping and often putting his feet in 
the sledge. It is impossible to hurt oneself in 
the soft snow, owing to the lowness of the sledge 
from the ground. An idea may be formed of the 
balance by comparing the pulka to an ordinary 
boat, which when drawn ashore and left unsup- 
ported naturally falls from one side to the other. 
If the pulka were made differently it would not 
answer to the nature of the country or meet the 
state it is continually in ; if the bottom were 
broader, the inequalities of the ground, the depth 
of the snow, the ascent of the mountains would 
render it impossible for the animal to pull it. 

The chief accidents that happen to the Lap- 
lander in his winter expeditions arise either from 
losing the way or being caught by snowstorms 
and snowdrifts. I have never seen a Lap- 
lander use a compass ; he finds his way when 
the weather is bad and thick, or when travelling 
at night, by the formation and direction of 
the mountains. The deer, moreover, keep to 
a route they have once traversed, and the dogs 
in front help, and marks are placed by the 
Lensman along the beaten routes, of wooden 
crosses and arrows pointing the directions, or 
of cut trees and twigs on the ice. 



THE LAPLANDER OF TO-DAY 65 



Should bad weather overtake him, the Lapp 
pitches his tent, if he has it with him. Other- 
wise he has to sleep in the snow, the tempera- 
ture of which is higher than that of the air, and 
wait till the weather allows him to proceed. 

Sleeping in snow is warmer than in the tents, 
as there is too much air moving round in a 
tent, even with a Primus stove burning. 
Sleeping-bags and a Lapp dress, especially if 
one coat of reindeer skin is worn with the fur 
next the skin, and another over it with the fur 
outside, are all that is required, and so fortified 
the greatest snow blizzard and winds can be 
faced. 

4. Ski-ing, 

An acquaintance with and some skill in the 
art of ski-ing is almost a necessity for travelling 
in Lapland. 

It is not absolutely an impossibility to journey 
through Lapland without ski, but it is very 
useful to be able to ski a little, and a few 
hours and a little practice will enable the 
traveller to use them. 

It is unwise to move far away from the pulka 
without putting on skis, as the snow round may 
be of any depth. To take a photograph it is 
often necessary to get out on to the snow, and 

6 

m 



66 



THROUGH LAPLAND 



to stand on the level of the snow, instead of 
sinking two or three feet deep where it is soft. 
Skis are used by the Lapps just as we put on 
boots. They are taught to use them from 
early childhood. 

The ski provides good recreation, and when 
remaining in one place for a few days, ski-ing 
through the woods and down the slope is 
beneficial exercise. The ski is used all over 
Lapland and Finmarken, and in very early times 
the natives were considered so expert in the use 
of it that they obtained the name of " Skidl- 
finni " or " Skridfinni," and the country itself, 
according to some authors, of Skidfinnia, Scri- 
finnia, or Skridfinnia, which appellation may 
still be seen in maps. 

Ignorance and superstition in the early ages 
entirely swayed the inhabitants of the North 
and Finmarken, and Lapland was then known to 
Sweden only by the extraordinary tales related 
concerning the country and its inhabitants. It 
is easy to suppose that a people like the 
Laplanders, whose appearance at all times is so 
singular and original, would have marvellous 
stories told concerning them. Seen in the 
winter on their snow skates gliding along the 
frozen lakes or darting down the precipitous 
mountains in the manner which habit enables 



THE LAPLANDER OF TO-DAY 67 



them to practise with such ease, they offer 
a strange sight. 

As soon as the snow falls the Laplander puts 
on his skis, though it is not till the snow has 
acquired a certain degree of hardness that he 
can go with any speed. 

After the snow has fallen a few days the frost 
gives it such firmness that it can support the 
weight of a man; the surface becomes hard and 
glazed, and the Lapp can then go in any direc- 
tion across country which before was impassable. 
Nothing can stop him, and he traverses with 
equal ease and swiftness the white expanse of 
land, lakes, and rivers. The most remarkable 
motion is the descent of the mountains and 
precipices, when he rides on his stick or on the 
spade used for finding the moss for the reindeer 
between his legs in a sitting position. No Euro- 
pean can go faster down steep hills, although 
the Norwegians are splendid ski runners. 

The skis I bought from a Lapp are 8 ft. 6 in. 
in length, and the weight of the pair is eighteen 
pounds. They came from Lake Enare, where the 
country is flat and wooded like a park. In the 
mountains the skis are shorter, and sometimes 
one is longer than the other. The greatest use 
of them is in the pursuit of reindeer, which the 
Lapp can lasso with great skill. When the Lap- 



68 



THROUGH LAPLAND 



lander sets out in pursuit of a wolf or reindeer 
and comes to a mountain the summit of which 
he wishes to ascend, no matter how steep it is, 
practice enables him to prevent the smooth sur- 
face of the ski from slipping backwards. The 
Laplander sometimes covers the skis with rein- 
deer or seal skin, the hair of which being turned 
backward prevents it from taking a retrograde 
direction. I always used sealskins attached 
with a preparation of sticking material and 
found them most satisfactory. They never 
came off; to slip back on them is like rubbing 
the coat of a cat the wrong way. But for use 
down hill and on a flat surface the skin is not 
necessary. 

In ascending the sides of the mountains the 
Lapp is obliged to go in a zigzag direction, and 
he soon accomplishes it. When descending he 
places himself in a crouching posture, knees 
bent, chin forward, and he goes with a velocity 
comparable almost to the flight of an arrow. 
A cloud of snow is stirred by the impetus of 
his descent. When the snow is soft the wolf, 
fox, and other wild animals have little chance 
with the Lapp on ski : the man can go faster 
than the wolf in heavy snow and soon tires 
his prey out. Whenever the tracks of wild 
animals are seen the Lapp follows the spoor, 



THE LAPLANDER OF TO-DAY 69 



and he well knows the different marks. When 
travelling, it is usual to stop when a wolf's 
tracks are seen across the path. 

An old story is told of a Lapp who, meeting 
with a wolf, attacked and felled him with a 
violent blow on the loins. The animal being 
as he supposed dead from the blows he had 
given it, he took it by the tail and, throwing it 
across his shoulders, was returning towards his 
tent with his prize. Before he had proceeded 
many steps, however, the beast, which proved 
to have been only stunned, revived, and to the 
great surprise of the hunter, turning suddenly 
round, seized him by the neck, and if he had 
not instantly let his booty drop he would in all 
probability have lost his life. 

Wolves are great cowards, and never attack 
man if there are reindeer and dogs about. But 
reindeer must not be allowed to stray away 
from the camp. It is necessary to go out and 
procure moss and bring it to the reindeer. 
Skis and pulkas stuck in the snow act to some 
extent as " scare wolves." A Lapp on skis will 
often undertake a journey of 150 miles from the 
interior to the coast or to a town to bring 
intelligence to a merchant of the coming of 
the reindeers or to transact any other business 
with him. 



70 THROUGH LAPLAND 



5. The Lapland Wintee. 

Notwithstanding its severity, winter is the 
great time in Lapland. Its loveliness is inde- 
scribable. The poet's words — 

Serene and bright, 
And lovely as a Lapland night, 

come into our minds. " To me," writes another 
poet, " 'tis full of manly charms." 

When the weather is clear the moon shines 
brightly day and night for many days without 
setting, and gives a light inferior only to the 
sun ; when the moon does not shine, the stars 
and the brilliancy of the aurora borealis, or 
Northern Lights, are sufficient to light the way 
across the wastes of snow. 

By dancing meteors then that ceaseless shake 
A waving blaze refracted o'er the heavens; 
And vivid moons and stars that keener play 
With doubled lustre from the glossy waste. 
Even in the depth of polar night they find 
A wondrous day. 

Drydkn. 

The lights are very beautiful, like rainbows 
in the sky. Some imagine they are due to 
electricity from the Arctic regions, and that 



THE LAPLANDER OF TO-DAY 71 



they often portend a change of weather. The 
appearance is of a deep yellow streak moving 
about the heavens with inconceivable velocity, 
first on one side and then the other and above 
one's head. They are strongest from November 
to March, generally beginning every evening at 
6 o'clock, and I found them most vivid and 
frequent in latitude 70° to 69°. Strange theories 
have been put forward to account for them. In 
Lapland lore they are imagined to be the shadows 
of departed relatives dancing about. American 
Indians entertain the same belief. In Siberia, 
where the Northern Lights are very frequent 
and assume an amazing diversity of shapes, 
the Samoyeds say they are spirits at variance 
righting in the air. It has also been said 
that the immense shoals of herrings in the 
Polar Sea, when pursued by whales, make sud- 
den turns, and the luminous appearance is due 
to the agitation of the waters, and perhaps to 
their own natural phosphorescence reflected by 
the heavens. Some imagine they hear a crack- 
ling noise like that caused by shaking or waving 
very fine or thin Chinese paper, or the waving 
of a large flag in a gale of wind. 

I saw the lights very distinctly when at Boss- 
kop. 1 The prevailing tone observed there was 
1 Pronounced Bosse Kop. 



72' 



THROUGH LAPLAND 



of a flame or straw colour, varying, when most 
vivid and rapid in their motions, to a tint per- 
ceptibly deeper. Sometimes the colour is a 
bluish-yellow, yellow, or red, but is seldom blue 
or green. 

The Northern Lights are most frequent when 
the weather is calm, and often they appear no 
more than a mile away, the light being very con- 
siderable. Besides the brilliant light they afford 
— sometimes the light is so bright and clear that 
one can read a large-sized print by it — they are 
useful as indicating changes in the wind and 
weather. Experience generally confirms their 
correctness, and they are really an excellent 
barometer. When the aurora is equal over the 
heavens and of a pale colour, and its motions 
slow, the weather being clear and fine, it means 
a continuance of the same conditions. When 
the flames are shooting and darting along with 
great velocity, stormy and tempestuous weather 
will certainly follow. Bosskop may be strongly 
urged as a resort where these wonders of the 
heavens can be seen. Thousands of dancing 
lights ride about the heavens as if intended by 
Providence to cheer the hours of darkness by 
their mild and beautiful coruscations. 

With his knowledge of the stars and heavenly 
bodies, the Lapp travelling in Lapland acquires 



THE LAPLANDER OF TO-DAY 73 



a sufficient acquaintance with astronomy for his 
purpose. The stars he distinguishes by names, 
and by their assistance also he steers his 
course. 

Despite their love of winter, the Lapps wel- 
come the return of the sun. 

In those cold regions, which no summers cheer, 
Where brooding darkness covers half the year, 
To hollow caves the shiv'ring natives go, 
Bears range abroad and hunt in tracks of snow; 
But when the tedious twilight wears away, 
And stars grow paler at the approach of day, 
The longing crowds to frozen mountains run, 
Happy who first can see the glimmering sun. 

In Lapland the days are dark and the sun is 
absent for two whole months. On the 26th Janu- 
ary its beams gladden the eyes, and its feeble 
rays just begin to peep above the horizon. The 
inhabitants generally go up to the tops of hills 
in order to get the earliest possible glimpse, and 
the dawn is celebrated by a feast and merry- 
making. In Siberia the same event is observed 
in a similar manner among the Samoyeds and 
Ostiaks, who, when the sun appears, institute a 
kind of festival. Bonfires are made and rein- 
deer killed, and there are all kinds of merriment 
and rejoicing. 



74 



THROUGH LAPLAND 



6. Ways of Life. 

The extraordinarily brave life of the Lapps 
calls forth our admiration. They are a very 
proud race, and seem to know their antiquity, 
whether they come from the Mongols, or Tartars, 
or any other race. No one really seems to know 
where the Lapp originally came from — Esqui- 
maux or Samoyeds ; they may even have come 
from the land of Nod or some lost race, but any- 
how they are a nomad race, owing to the con- 
ditions of their life and their dependence on 
the reindeer, and, like the Flying Dutchman, 
are always on the move. 

The Mountain Lapp lives more remote from 
civilization, and, always roaming after his rein- 
deer, is a born wanderer, and, like all mountain 
tribes, much stronger, haughtier, and more inde- 
pendent. The dress is much the same, although 
the shape of the cap indicates a difference of 
clans. 

The coast Laplander, who lives on fishing and 
has no reindeer, is a quiet, inoffensive being. 
His eyes are dark. He is more domestic in his 
habit of life. 

The shore Laplander has a fixed abode, and 
if he moves at all it is only to a short distance, 
and never for long at a time. 



THE LAPLANDER OF TO-DAY 75 



The tents of the Lapps differ in no respect, 
summer and winter ; and it seems extraordinary 
how these people, hardy as they are, can stand 
the intense cold of the mountains, protected by 
a mere strip of cloth and exposed to the raging 
storms that carry with them snowdrifts so thick 
that the tents are often completely blocked up. 
These hardy sons of Nature eye the tempest 
with indifference, and, putting on their winter 
hoods, which completely cover their heads and 
shoulders save for a hole left for the face, they 
sally out on skis at all hours, braving the storm, 
and take their watch over the deer, guarding 
against the attack of wolves or other wild 
animals; 

In this duty they are assisted by their women, 
who take their turn of watching and bear every 
hardship equally with the men. Once I asked a 
little girl if she was afraid, watching all night 
over the reindeer, but she answered through the 
interpreter: " The wolves liked the reindeer better 
than me." 

The winter food of the Lapp is almost entirely 
venison, this season being the only time he kills 
his reindeer for his support. He then lives in 
a state of luxury, particularly if his herd is large. 
The best way of cooking the reindeer is by 
boiling it in a cauldron, a nutritious bouillon or 



76 



THROUGH LAPLAND 



broth, which is very delicious, being the result. 
Before he puts it into the pot he cuts it up in 
small pieces, in order to extract the gravy better 
and lessen the difficulty of separating it. When 
it is sufficiently boiled, each member of the party 
receives a birch bowl or soup-plate with a good 
quantity of the meat and soup, in eating which 
he uses ringers and a knife. 

The Laplander in winter consumes an enor- 
mous quantity of meat, but in the summer he 
lives mostly on fish, the salmon-trout and salt 
fish being the finest in the world. 

It is not surprising that the enjoyments of 
winter are greater than those of summer, when 
there is continual labour and anxiety during his 
long wanderings and abode on the coasts — when, 
too, he undergoes great abstinence in order that 
he may enjoy the merry feasting of the opposite 
season. 

During the winter his wanderings are gener- 
ally within a distance of fifty miles, keeping as 
near as possible to his little wooden building 
where all his belongings are. 

The Lapps are a most good-tempered race, full 
of fun and amusement, and always find plenty 
to talk about. Men, women, and children seem 
always playing or working, snowballing or cut- 
ting up wood for the fires. They are honest, 



THE LAPLANDER OF TO-DAY 77 



and, a bargain once made, they keep to it, 
though most of the Laplanders that the tourist 
sees in Norway at Tromso and Hammerfest are 
spoiled by the travellers, who give them money 
to photograph them. Their language is pretty 
and soft, with many vowels in it, but its extra- 
ordinary difficulty makes conversation lag some- 
what. Many now, however, speak Norwegian 
and Swedish. All Lapps understand each other, 
whether they are Eussian or any other nationality. 

The Lapps are very industrious, and make all 
their clothes, harness, pulkas, carving wood and 
horns, putting beautiful embroidery on cloth, 
besides going long distances to sell the reindeer 
meat, ptarmigans, fox-skins, and other produce 
to the merchants in the towns. 

The fairs are held in February, and merchants 
come to barter for their deer-skins, horns, frozen 
venison or other meat, reindeer garments, consist- 
ing of paesks, gloves, shoes, and furs of different 
animals, wolves and foxes principally, they have 
killed. They sell or exchange for rice, tobacco, 
flour, cloth, etc. It is difficult for the Lapps to 
get brandy and spirits, but after their business 
is finished at the several fairs much drinking 
takes place, and singing and dancing. They 
generally find themselves sleeping in the snow 
or in a pulka in the morning. 



78 



THROUGH LAPLAND 



Every Laplander has a wooden building or 
storehouse in the village, generally in a long- 
row, and with only a padlock on the door. 
These stores are very small, being only a few 
feet high, and are made of deal logs with air- 
opening in front, into which the owner can just 
creep. In this storehouse he puts everything he 
does not want to take with him in the summer, 
and anything he buys of the merchant he stores 
in the same place. The women and children 
are also very busy going in and out of these 
little buildings, which are not much larger than 
a loose-box. 

Some of the Lapps are very rich, especially 
those who have been prospecting for gold in 
Alaska. The author met a Lapp at Kautokeino 
who had 300,000 kronen, and a brother now T 
in Alaska possesses still more. His wife spoke 
very good American, and has a most comfortable 
house, good cooking, and an excellent vapour- 
bath house, which we much appreciated. 

Laplanders, who are always roaming, have to 
obey the laws of the country they are in, 
whether Russia, Finland, Norway, or Sweden. 
The judge goes on his circuits twice a year. 
Most of the offences are for stealing reindeer. 

The Lapps sometimes have large families, and 
are very fond of their children. With respect 



THE LAPLANDER OF TO-DAY 79 



to the belief that the youngest infants are rubbed 
with snow or put in cold water the author could 
find no confirmation. 

The Lapp's cradle is a curiosity; it resembles 
a canoe, with the lower part open and the upper 
protected by an arched covering which shelters 
the head of the infant. This covering is of 
leather, the rest of the cradle being made of 
wood and covered with leather. Before re- 
ceiving the infant the cradle is well stuSed with 
soft moss, over which a covering of young calf's 
skin is placed. It is much like a mummy case, 
and is easily carried on the mother's back in a 
sling. The advantages of this kind of cradle 
are its portability and the safety it affords to its 
little passenger. 

A few bells hang from the top of the hood to 
amuse the inmate when awake. This mode of 
carrying enables the hands to be free, and does 
not prevent the mother attending to the herd 
and following her usual occupations. 

The wants of the Laplander are few, and 
consist only of the bare necessaries of life. He 
is protected against the piercing cold by his 
dress, and though he is frequently obliged to 
sleep in the bare snow unprovided with a tent, 
which he appears hardly to consider a necessity 
and often leaves behind him as an incumbrance, 



80 



THROUGH LAPLAND 



he seldom suffers from the cold. In short, great 
as the difficulties may appear, the Lapp thinks 
lightly of them. 

What would be the extremes of hardship to 
others are considered by him merely an ordinary 
occurrence, and the whole tenour of his life 
shows us that happiness, misery, comfort, or 
suffering depends more upon the ideas and opera- 
tions of the mind than upon the body, so much 
are custom and habit everything, and so much 
do they make men or women what they are. 

Education may, however, soon exterminate the 
old-fashioned Laplander, and the new generation 
may, in a few years, become more like their 
neighbours. 

7. Social Customs. 

Once upon a time the Lapps lived a patriarchal 
life. Now large families are rare, and living 
separately is more usual amongst them. Sons, 
after marriage, generally separate from their 
fathers and make their own household. Only 
when the parents have an only son does he 
remain with them to their death. But although 
the clans have been broken up, Lapps have not 
forgotten their clan parentage. Formerly each 
clan had its clan name. Now Russian family 
names have taken its place. However, with 



THE LAPLANDER OF TO-DAY 81 



few exceptions, all families descending from the 
same clan bear one and the same family name. 
The former Lapp Christian names have also been 
replaced by Eussian, but much distorted; for 
instance : Evan (Ivan), Mekkash (Michael), Vask 
(Vasili), Sandra (Alexander). 

Lapps call one another simply by their family 
names, or else, in conversation with much- 
esteemed persons, by their fathers' names as 
well. If they want to show particular respect to 
any one, they add not only the father's name 
but also the grandfather's — as Karp-Evan Vask. 
Here the name is Vasili, the father's name Ivan, 
and the grandfather's Karp. 

Women are generally called " halves" by the 
Lapps, and speaking of them in their -presence 
they do not call them by their own name, but 
by the husband's or father's name. Of a young 
woman, for instance, the wife of Vasili, they say, 
" Vask-Kava " — that is, the wife of Vasili — or 
" Evan-Kava," the wife of Ivan. "When speak- 
ing of an old woman they say, " Vask-agki," 
u Evan-agki" — that is, Dame Vasili, Ivan. But 
when they personally address a woman they 
generally use her name and her father's name, 
or, as in Eussia, simply the father's name : 
Egororna, Ivanorna, etc. Ties of relationship 
are very much respected by the Lapps. 

7 



82 THROUGH LAPLAND 



They are in general a good-hearted and hos- 
pitable people; they like receiving their friends, 
but relations, especially the nearest, are with 
thern the most welcome guests. The host spares 
nothing for them. He will cook both meat and 
good fish, place on the table both " poidoo " 
(salted reindeer) and that, to the Lapps, most 
tasty of dishes, reindeer tongues ; and if he has 
vodka he does not stint it for his dear guest. 
He places him in the seat of honour, gives him 
one piece after another, trying to persuade him 
to eat more — " Poor, poor ! " (" Eat, eat ! "), and 
he tries to do all that may be agreeable for the 
guest in order to testify his pleasure. 

The Lapps are distinguished by their peaceful 
character, and in a Lapp family peace generally 
reigns. Eelations between parents and children 
are generally good and affectionate. Grown-up 
children have great freedom. Thus, for instance, 
if a son or daughter makes anything it is con- 
sidered their property, and the father will not 
sell it without their consent, or take any money 
for himself. If the son makes a sleigh, the 
father does not consider himself entitled to sell 
it. He says to the buyer: "I did not make it, 
but my son : ask him ! " Besides his own 
handiwork, each member of the family has his 
sheep and reindeer. When a child is born it is 



THE LAPLANDER OF TO-DAY 83 



the custom for the relatives to make it gifts of 
these animals. All that accrues from them goes 
towards the child's heritage. If a son wishes to 
separate from his father or a daughter marries, 
they take all their cattle with them. Towards 
little children Lapps are very affectionate, and 
rarely beat them, and if they do, it is generally 
when they are not sober. The wife is respected 
in the family. The Lapp, although he says of 
his wife, " When I like my wife T love her, when 
I don't I beat her," really loves her as a rule 
and lives in peace with her. While wife and 
husband are yet young, the latter often takes 
her with him to Kola and Alexandrovsk or 
some other town to buy clothes and fal-lals, 
and even when of mature years the Lapp 
always takes pleasure in bringing his wife some 
present or other. The wife is his constant 
adviser and helper. They work in concord, 
mutually helping one another. The wife gener- 
ally gets up earlier than the husband, makes 
the fire, and, if the family drinks tea, pre- 
pares it. Then she wakes everybody up, puts 
the samovar, teapot, and bread on the table, 
and invites to the repast. She, of course, cooks 
the dinner and supper ; she makes clothes and 
shoes for the whole family, spins wool and knits 
mittens and socks out of it, and weaves the 



84 



THROUGH LAPLAND 



blankets. She also cuts the wood if there is a 
forest near the house, and knits the nets for 
fishing, and mends them. She catches fish in 
the lakes and rivers. The husband looks after 
the reindeer, hews wood when remote from the 
house, and takes it for sale by reindeer or river. 
In general, the husband takes upon himself work 
which requires long absence from home ; the 
wife, on the other hand, tries to remain at 
home, working when possible in the neighbour- 
hood and looking after the family. But one 
often sees the Lapp women employed in sea- 
trading or driving pulkas. 

The ancient family organization of the Lapps 
has been preserved to this day in the method of 
land distribution. The whole of the land in 
Lapland is divided into village districts. Each 
village has its bit of land, in which Lapps of 
other districts may neither catch fish nor hunt 
wild or feathered animals. Hills, rivers, stones, 
etc., serve as boundaries between the lands of 
various districts. Ground belonging to a village 
is divided amongst its inhabitants into as many 
parts as there are families in the village. Only 
hills, which are the property of each district, 
are not divided. The ancestral bit of family 
ground is in its turn divided amongst the 
various branches of the family. In the parti- 



THE LAPLANDER OF TO-DAY 85 



tion of land between families they try to 
maintain the utmost equality ; they give the 
largest and best fish-preserves to the big families. 
On the other hand, the small families get the 
smallest allotments. The family allotment gener- 
ally remains in the family for many genera- 
tions. But if one family gets very big, and the 
former allotment is not enough for its sus- 
tenance, then, by common consent, a new 
allotment, with fishing-ground, is made to it, or 
another family is compelled to exchange allot- 
ments with it. They divide not only fishing 
grounds, but also woods and meadows, which 
have for Lapps comparatively small significance. 
The Lapp derives from the woods themselves 
sufficient wood for house construction. As re- 
gards the meadows, of which there are but few, 
the Lapps let them out for the most part to the 
inhabitants of Kola and Kandalaks who own 
cows. The tenant of a meadow is obliged by 
the conditions to collect from each Lapp the 
rates and taxes due from him. The ancestral 
fabric, reflecting itself in family and clan 
divisions, has, however, not been preserved 
always and everywhere. Fishing- grounds have 
a particularly important significance in Lapp 
life. Amongst them are very important sea 
fisheries where cod is caught, and the spots at 



86 



THROUGH LAPLAND 



the mouths of rivers where salmon is caught. 
Whilst lake and river fisheries remain in con- 
stant possession of a Lapp family, and pass from 
one generation to another for a long time, sea 
preserves and those at the mouths of rivers are 
frequently transferred from one family to 
another. 

8. Marriage. 

Eussian Lapps marry rather late in life, rarely 
before twenty, oftener between twenty-five and 
twenty-eight. They only marry earlier in case 
of necessity, when they require a workwoman 
in the family, when " there is no one to bake 
the bread and make the clothes." A Lapp seeks 
in his future wife a good workwoman. Another 
important requirement, though less so than the 
first, is that she should be rich. A rich Lapp 
will willingly marry a poor girl if she is a good 
housewife. It is clearly shown in Lapp stories 
and songs how much a Lapp is against marrying 
a woman who is incapable of house management. 
The following tale may be given as an illustra- 
tion : — 

It was in winter. The father and mother were paying a 
visit to some friends ; both daughters had remained at home ; 
they had no store of firewood. They heard that young men 
were on their way to pay court ; the sleigh bells were 



THE LAPLANDER OF TO-DAY 87 



tinkling "jingle, jingle " ; they were coming, fast and furious 
they were coming. But the girls did not know it was to 
see them. The suitors arrived, stopped with friends in 
the village, and people told the girls of this : " What, 
maidens ! you stand in the street and have no wood in the 
house ! " 

In the meantime the young men na d taken off their 
travelling kit, put on their best clothes, and gone into the 
girls' hut, where all was cold, no fire, no wood even. The 
younger sister, seizing an axe, ran into the wood, whilst 
the elder, taking some branches with which the floor was 
strewn, put them into the stove and started making tea. 
She had no sooner made the tea than the younger sister 
brought some dry wood from the forest. But the young 
men did not drink the tea which the elder sister gave 
them ; it was not good, having been made on branches. 
The younger poured away the tea, put the wood in the 
stove, and began to boil the water afresh. She also brought 
a large salted sea-trout, cleaned it, cut it up, and gave it to 
the men to eat. Afterwards, when the tea was boiling, she 
gave it them, and they ate and drank. The suitor who had 
had the idea of marrying the elder took up his hat, went 
out, and never came back. But the one who had intended 
to marry the younger did so. Thus did the younger, after 
playing a waiting game, come in alone and win the first 
prize, no other being awarded ! 

A Lapp, when he has a girl in mind, or two 
or three, as is sometimes the case, with a view 
to marriage, goes to his parents and declares 
his intentions. He brings vodka with him, and 
after proposing a drink, says : " Is it not about 
time for me to marry? I shall soon be an old 
fellow." The parents generally answer: " God 



88 



THROUGH LAPLAND 



bless you ; but whom do you think of marry- 
ing?" Then the man names the bride he has 
in mind. With this the conversation ceases. 
Shortly after the parents of the would-be hus- 
band assemble almost all the relatives in family 
council. Drink is offered them. As they drink, 
the parents explain to them that their son 
wishes to many so and so. The relatives 
rarely oppose it ; the council is only a formal 
custom. They generally give their consent, 
saying: "It is not our life, but his; he knows 
best." Thereupon the real courtship commences. 

9. Burial Eites. 

When some one dies in a Lapp family the 
deceased is either carried to an outhouse, or, if 
he remains in the dwelling, all the relatives 
leave it for some days. They wash the body, 
dress it, and place it in a coffin, generally 
hurrying over the funereal formalities. They put 
the coffin on a sleigh, and carry it by reindeer, 
or the relatives harness themselves to the sleigh. 
They generally bury the body at the nearest spot 
to where death took place, and only in those 
few places where there are churches do they 
bury in a cemetery. They do not dig graves 
deep, only from one to two feet, rarely more. 
They either simply cover them with earth or, 



THE LAPLANDER OF TO-DAY 89 



after placing one layer of earth, cover it on top 
with stones. 

After the burial they arrange a dinner, and 
vodka is drunk, but there is no intemperance. 
In drinking, his liqueur-glass full, the Lapp 
says : " Eemember, God, thy slave (so and 
so)." The Lapps have preserved to this day the 
custom of placing on the grave various weapons 
and effects of which the deceased made use 
during his lifetime. For instance, they place an 
axe and fishing-gear, or sometimes a sleigh, on 
the grave, with the side of the sleigh upper- 
most. They also erect crosses. 

A funeral service only takes place when there 
is a church at hand, or if there chances to be 
a clergyman in the parish at the time. Gener- 
ally, only some time afterwards, when the clergy- 
man comes, is he asked to read the burial service 
over the grave. With some Lapps it is also the 
custom soon after the burial to take to the 
clergyman a handful of earth from the grave, in 
order that the burial service may be chanted 
over it. The female relatives of the deceased 
wear mourning : a black sarafan 1 and black 
neckerchief, maidens for six weeks and married 
women a year. During six weeks maidens take 
no part in games, and do not go to evening 
parties. Men do not wear mourning. 

1 The Bussian national dress. 



90 THROUGH LAPLAND 



10. Village Communal Meetings: " Sooim." 

From time to time the Lapps of a village 
community will assemble in a meeting, called a 
" Sooim,'' and here accurately ascertain how 
many male souls there are amongst them at the 
time, and how many fishing-grounds. Then they 
calculate how many men go to a fishing-ground. 
After this they cast lots for the various fisheries. 
A large family in which there are many men 
will often receive two fisheries, whilst two small 
families receive only one between them. Thus 
Lapps try to equalize matters as much as pos- 
sible. Each family has the use of its fishing- 
ground for one year only. The next year the 
Lapp who has received the first ground takes the 
place of the one who took the last in the pre- 
vious year. Thus also the other Lapps inter- 
change grounds. When all the fishing-grounds 
have changed hands, and each has been owned 
by all in turn, another meeting is held and lots 
are again cast. 

Lapps are very free in their social relations, 
and a meeting or Sooim has a great significance 
for them. The w T hole of Russian Lapland is 
divided into two main districts — the Pomorsky 
and Kolsky-Loparsky. These are, in their turn, 
divided into smaller districts or communities, 



THE LAPLANDER OF TO-DAY 91 



and every district consists of several villages. 
In the Kolsky-Loparsky district there are seven- 
teen villages, forming three sub-districts ; in the 
Pomorsky there are only four villages. Each 
main district has its district council for the 
settling of law-suits and punishment of crime. 
But the Lapp very rarely goes to the district 
council — for one reason that villages are as a 
rule too far from the headquarters of districts, 
and for another that the judges themselves are 
Eussians, and not Lapps. As a rule, if a Lapp 
has a case requiring legal intervention he ad- 
dresses himself to his own Sooim. This is 
an assembly either of the whole sub-district or 
only of one village. This Sooim elects men 
for various social functions, and determines the 
amount of rates and taxes ; it also settles dis- 
putes. Matters are decided neither by a unani- 
mous nor a majority vote ; what has the greatest 
influence is the opinion of the elder and more 
respected Lapps. A village Sooim is often 
held. Any Lapp who requires one may assemble 
it. These tribunals have as a rule only to judge 
small matters : complaints as to killing of domestic 
reindeer, thefts, and complaints in respect of dis- 
putes and fights. The killing of domestic rein- 
deer has been of fairly frequent occurrence in 
recent years. Often a Lapp, while hunting wild 



92 THROUGH LAPLAND 



deer, cannot restrain himself from killing a 
domestic reindeer met by the way, wandering 
at will. On bringing home the killed deer he 
carefully hides its skin, by which the owners 
might recognize it. But he often does not suc- 
ceed in hiding all traces, and then the owner 
complains to the council. If the council find 
the man guilty they force him (1) to pay the 
cost of the deer, (2) to return the skin, and 
(3) to pay a fine in addition. The fine gener- 
ally consists of vodka, which is subsequently 
drunk by the complainant, judges, and accused 
together. 

Besides the councils the Lapps have yet 
another tribunal. Since for the greater part of 
the year they live scattered about, employed in 
the fish trade, it is very often inconvenient to call 
a meeting. Thus, in the case of a misunderstand- 
ing both sides agree that some respected elder 
or other shall act as judge. Such a judge, after 
investigating the matter, tries to conciliate both 
sides. When peace is restored, the guilty party 
buys vodka, and all three drink it together. The 
judge takes no other reward for his services. 

11. A Native on Life in Lapland. 

There may be added here a " few words about 
life in Lapland," written on purpose for this 



THE LAPLANDER OF TO-DAY 93 



volume by Johann Thiirri, the Laplander and 
well-known wolf-hunter who accompanied the 
author in his expeditions. This was written in 
Lappish, and the author sent it to the Upsala 
University to be translated by Professor Wiklund. 

The mode of life among the Lapps varies very much, 
and their land is likewise of many kinds. Some Lapps 
spend both summer and winter in the woods, others, again, 
spend both those seasons on the mountains ; and there 
are some who spend the winter in the woods and move 
to the mountains for the summer. The last is the best 
plan, when the reindeer make for the woods for the 
winter. It is warm then, and the wolves cannot pursue 
and kill them. The snow then is deeper, so the wolves 
dare not approach the woods, where it is dangerous for 
them on that account. When a Lapp observes that the 
wolves have attacked a herd by night and killed reindeer, 
either a few animals or a score or more, 1 as they are 
wont to do, the Lapps start on the tracks of the wolves, 
taking with them no gun or any sort of paraphernalia 
except the ordinary snow-skate pole, inasmuch as the 
Lapps are small of stature and weak, and also little 
accustomed to guns. When a Lapp, however, catches 
sight of a wolf, as the wolves cannot run in the deep 
snow, then the Lapp shouts to the wolf : " Good-day, 
good-day. Don't run away." When the wolf hears this, 
it cannot run farther, but walks up to the Lapp, howls 
and yaps and opens its jaws as wide as it can. No 
doubt it may happen that a Lapp gets frightened, and, 
in his terror, turns back ; but in the case of a brave and 
quick Lapp he attacks it with his pole, and when the 



1 Lit. " several tens." 



94 



THROUGH LAPLAND 



wolf approaches, hits it at once promptly on the snout, 
just on the black tip. If he hits it, the wolf rolls to the 
ground, when the Lapp at once beats and strikes it. When 
there are several wolves, he starts after the rest of the 
pack, and reaches thern as quick as lightning 1 and the 
remainder do not get far before the enemy is at them. 
He deals with them in the same way as he dealt with 
the first. If, however, a misfortune happens, and he 
lets the wolf escape, the wolf always tries to throw 
itself on him — on his face especially ; it is also likely 
enough sometimes to bite him in several places. Any- 
how, the Lapps kill many wolves in this manner, when 
the wolves follow them down to the woods. Sometimes 
they slay them on their tracks in the woods, where the 
wolves must run along tracks, since the snow is so thick 
they are not able to wade so easily in such snow as is 
not crossed by reindeer tracks. And just for that reason 
it is also better for them to be in the woods in winter 
and on the mountains in summer. One sees the reindeer 
when there is no snow in which their tracks can be 
followed. And when it has snowed a wolf defends itself 
equally well in the woods, and even better. On the 
mountains a wolf is sighted from a long distance when 
it is stalking reindeer, and then the wolf is bound to be 
frightened and make off. It is frightened when it sees 
the Lapp striving with the herd, even if he has no gun 
with him. A wolf is shy of the smell of gunpowder. 

When it is summer and the weather hot, the Lapp has to 
migrate with his herd to the snowfells, where it is cool, 
which is very suitable and healthy for the reindeer. It 
is a good thing that there is a land of such a kind, where 
those who have cattle cannot thrive. But, again, under 
every high fell there are, I think, men who have cows and 



Lit. " as an aurora borealis. 



THE LAPLANDER OF TO-DAY 95 



sheep, and when the wind sets to the north and the cold 
weather comes, the Lapp has to get his reindeer down 
from the high snowfells, where it is cold and there is 
neither grass nor reindeer-moss. Then, again, there are 
big law-suits, and the husbdnder, as the Norwegian farmers 
are called, lay claims for damages everywhere where the 
reindeer has trampled down a single path, and demand 
a sum of money for it, and the poor Lapps have to pay, 
as they have already paid hundreds and thousands of 
[Swedish] crowns just for a mere nothing, and then still 
more. Then the land by the seashores is fertile. But where 
the soil is fertile there are not so many farmers as in 
Norway. Thus the Lapps have really many troubles, and 
they are not enlightened, but more stupid and timid than 
other nations. 

When the Lapps have moved to the easterly woods, 
it happens that suddenly the weather gets warm, and 
the rivers rise and become so full of water that wading 
them is out of the question. When that takes place the 
only thing to do is to build bridges where there are woods, 
or, at any rate, birch-trees. If it is not a wooded district, 
but bare mountain, they make a bridge of tent-poles, and 
over this bridge pass whole villages of Lapps with pack- 
reindeer and herds of thousands of reindeer. The bridge 
is fastened by ropes, and when there are many rivers 
near one another, the people have to carry with them 
the whole bridge, though it may be pretty heavy. But 
they also wade a great deal. These tent-poles are, how- 
ever, not thicker than staves, but they join as many as 
ten poles together, and bind them with rope, and there- 
fore they have many of such (bundles of staves). These 
rivers are narrow, but, though narrow, are deep. 

Che Norwegian Lapps are always obliged to dwell on 
the fells both summer and winter, since there are no 



96 



THROUGH LAPLAND 



woods in Kaukokeino, but a wide stretch of fells and 
excellent pastures for reindeer. The reindeer-moss is very- 
good, likewise the grazing, but the Lapps must watch 
their flocks incessantly both day and night, and the fells 
are exceedingly cold in winter. 

They must keep a close watch, because the fells abound 
in wolves. The wolves prowl about when the snow hardens. 
When it is hard and the wind keen, the wind bites into 
one's face, so that not seldom it even becomes frost- 
bitten. In that case it is best to rub it with that kind of 
snow which lies closest to the ground and is called scenjas 
(coarse and granulated snow). And in rough weather 
the snow is so thick that the blades of the skates are not 
even visible along the track, and if the wolves come 
nothing at all is to be seen. In such rough weather the 
reindeer usually run about, but only with the wind, and 
lie down to rest in small detached groups, and then they 
are so smothered with snow that it is not possible to detect 
whether they are animals or stones. Then they get as 
drenched as if they had been in snow slush, and men 
themselves, likewise get covered with hoar-frost. Never- 
theless, it is not so cold during rough weather as when 
it is a cold, hard blast without snow. Lap tents are only 
in the birch woods. There is just enough birch to serve 
for fuel. In rough weather the tents are so pelted with 
snow that when the denizens get up in the morning the 
interiors of their tents are quite full of snow. The first 
task on getting up of a morning is to shovel away the 
snow from the fire-place and fling off the bedclothes. The 
Finns of the fells do not take off their clothes at night, 
but wrap themselves in thick furs of an evening, put hay 
into their shoes, and tie a belt — sometimes even an inside 
belt — round themselves. Some even put on leather gloves. 
In this way the Lapps, their wives, and children protect 
themselves. He who writes this has himself lived exactly 
in the way he has described above. 



THE LAPLANDER OF TO-DAY 97 



Forty years ago people in some places still followed 
ancient customs, e.g. -when a person died he or she was 
buried in the same spot. In certain parts of Lapland the 
Lapps are buried where they die, and the same words 
are read over them as the Swedish clergy use. 

I am going to tell a little story. Between Kaukokeino 
and Karasjok there is a spot where Eussians have been 
killed, and there are their houses. The Lapps always 
see them when they pass by when there is no snow. 
Once upon a time a Lapp took a skull and made it into 
a spoon, just as they make spoons of reindeer skulls. 
A reindeer skull is called boccuakse, and a spoon made 
from it, askebasti. But he was not allowed to keep it, 
but had to carry it back to the place from which he had 
taken it, and he got no peace until this was done. 

I dare say I have heard many stories ; but when we 
travelled so fast I had no opportunity to converse with the 
people. 

I believe there would never have been a railway to 
Kiruna and Narvik had not the English made one so 
far as from Lulea to Malmberget, and discussed its ex- 
tension, and seen that a line could be laid down from 
there to Norway. This is why I consider the English 
most excellent people. 



8 



CHAPTEE IV 



FKOM BOSSKOP TO VADSO 

Visit to Bosskop— A Lapp fair — The "Samlag" and prohibition — 
Provisions and clothing for the journey — The ceremonial of a 
Lapp toilet — Pulka travelling — Dinner at 7 a.m. — Karasjok — 
Lapp scenery and weather — Lapland nights — The " bastue," the 
Finnish Turkish bath : its rites and ceremonies. 

Oub baggage on this occasion consisted of the 
following articles : — 

Weight. 

Tent, " Whymper" 56 lb. 

Riiksak 16 

Skis 16 „ 

Two chop-boxes of provisions 169 ,, 

Valise 28 „ 

Kit bag, Army regulation ... 72 

We also took cameras and the different bags 
belonging to the Laplanders. 

Engaging beforehand the services of Mr. Borg 
Mesch, a Swede> as interpreter in Norwegian, 
and Johann Thurri, a Laplander, as interpreter 
in Lappish, both of whom had been with me on 



FROM BOSSKOP TO VADSO 



99 



previous expeditions, we met at the Lofoten 
Islands. Travellers visiting these parts cannot 
possibly do better than try and obtain the same 
linguists, especially for Norwegian and Swedish 
Lapland. For Kussian Lapland and Finland it 
is better to get a Eussian who speaks English. 

Arriving at Bosskop we went to the hotel, 
kept by Mr. and Mrs. Wiggs and their daughter, 
which is beautifully situated and very clean. 
Bosskop is a charming little place on the Alten 
fjord. There is splendid ski-ing ground quite 
close to the hotel, and good excursions can be 
made. We arrived just in time for the great 
Lapp fair, which takes place twice a year, the 
first Wednesday in March and first Wednesday 
in December. The sun was quite hot in the 
middle of the day, and we wore our ordinary 
clothes as in Switzerland for ski-ing. 

Many merchants also arrived by the steamer, 
and a few visitors. We stayed here several days, 
seeing the Lapps arrive with their hundreds of 
reindeer, and their pulkas filled with reindeer 
meat, ptarmigans, reindeer shoes and gloves, 
skins of elk, wolves, and foxes, knives, and belts, 
and skins. 

The Norwegian merchants came principally 
from Hammerfest and Tromso, and had their 
small wooden buildings to pack in and export 



100 THROUGH LAPLAND 



the different merchandise they purchased from 
the Laplanders. Everything was well arranged ; 
stabling for the reindeer, tied in the open by 
fences and poles in the market-place, the sledges 
and pulkas. There were cafes for the Lapps, 
and many stores where they could buy things 
in exchange for their goods. This fair is 
hundreds of years old and joyfully prepared for, 
as it is a great holiday and fete. There is 
singing, dancing, and merry-making in the 
evening. Most of the Lapps come from Karas- 
jok, Kautokeino and Finland. 

A court is also held here, and the judge ad- 
ministers the Norwegian law with the aid of the 
Lapp interpreters. Most of the cases are for 
stealing reindeer, and there is seldom any more 
serious business. The Government premium paid 
here for a wolf is sixty kronen. 1 

Besides the fair we had to think of our 
journey, and spent one morning putting up our 
tent and seeing to the provisions. We also 
amused ourselves with a gymkhana on skis down 
the slopes without sticks after dinner. The 
Norwegian dining hour is at three o'clock in the 
afternoon, so we had time to ski to Elvebacken 
over the mountains before dark. The dinner 
generally consisted of reindeer, venison, ryper — or 
1 About seventy-two shillings. 



Photo &//] 



BOSSKOP CHURCH. 



[Author. 




KAEASJOK CHURCH. 



To face p. 100.. 



FROM BOSSKOP TO VADSO 101 



ptarmigan, as we call it-— flounder fish, and mul- 
berries with milk and cream. Chickens, beef, and 
mutton are difficult to get in these cold climates, 
but excellent hams, bacon, and eggs can be 
obtained. The " Samlag " makes it impossible 
to purchase beer and spirits. The " Samlag " 
is a vote given by each of the inhabitants in 
regard to the sale of intoxicants. If the majority 
is against their sale, they can only be purchased 
where there is a " Samlag " in their favour. 
The profits of the sale of liquor and spirits are 
distributed to pay off rate taxes. But free towns 
are very few, and even beer cannot be obtained 
on several of the mail steamers. 

In the evenings we used to go out and walk 
round the town and visit the Lapp cafes. Many 
Lapps we met tumbling over each other in the 
snow, very happy with the strong spirit they 
obtained from somewhere, and drinking out of 
the bottle. As they all had on their paesks and 
winter clothes, they were quite as safe sleeping 
in the snow as in a building. 

We took many photographs of Bosskop. The 
women are very picturesque, and some of them 
have handsome features. The church stands 
out on the top of the hill, and from there 
many observations have been made of the 
aurora borealis, and cinema photographs have 



102 THROUGH LAPLAND 



been taken from the top of the steeple. The 
compounds filled with hundreds of reindeer 
made good pictures, as also did the numerous 
Lapp dogs running about. The view of the sea 
and of high mountains covered with snow is 
grand ; and in the latitude of 70° one cannot help 
thinking very often how thankful the country 
should be to the Gulf Stream for making this 
coast navigable. 

At Tromso on our way up we had telephoned 
to the Lensman, Herr Hegge, at Karasjok, and he 
kindly got us two vappus and twelve reindeer, 
and after three days' journey they arrived at 
Bosskop. We were sorry to leave Bosskop, but 
had to prepare now for our departure, and the 
first thing was to see to our warm clothes for 
the cold journey and to our provisions. 

The chop-boxes were the same I had used in 
Central Africa when big-game shooting, and were 
found just the right size to fit on to the sledges. 
Our provisions consisted of fresh reindeer meat, 
bread, plain biscuits, tea, sugar, chocolate, French 
sardines, Danish butter, soups, cheese, jam 
and marmalade, pepper and salt, Worcester 
sauce and piccalilli onions, potted meats, York- 
shire ham, bacon, sausages, condensed milk, 
tinned asparagus from Los Angeles, peas, vege- 
tables, camp pies, service rations, plum puddings, 



\ 



FROM BOSSKOP TO VADSO 103 



raisins and figs, dried fruits, and rice cakes. We 
carried also many useful things, including a 
Primus stove, candles, soap, electric light torches, 
old Cognac brandy, port and whisky and kummel, 
tobacco and cigars and cigarettes, to give to the 
Lapp girls when photographing them, and sweets 
for the Lapp children. 

Clothing was the next important thing, and 
very astonishing is the number of articles 
necessary to keep out the cold. The following 
is a list of those I had to wear throughout the 
journey when driving in my pulka. 

Thick flannel vest. 
Khaki flannel bush shirt. 
Waistcoat. 

Shetland wool waistcoat. 

Collar and tie. 

Coat. 

Wind jacket. 
Eeindeer fur coat. 1 
Belt round waist. 

Wool scarf to wind several times round neck and over 
head. 

Long knife, and bag containing matches, pipe, tobacco, 

and chocolate. 
Bear tippet over shoulders. 
Cap filled with an eiderdown pillow. 
Flannel drawers. 
Knickerbockers. 



1 Paesk. 



104 THROUGH LAPLAND 



Reindeer leggings. 
Reindeer breeches. 

Bands at bottom of leggings round the shoes. 

Stockings. 

Reindeer socks. 

Dried grass. 

Reindeer shoes. 

Large reindeer shoes filled with more dried grass. 
Woollen gloves filled with hay and a long pair of rein- 
deer-skin gloves over the gloves. 



The caps or head-dresses of the Lapps differ 
according to the district ; some of them are square 
at the top, and of either blue or red cloth. The 
one the author wore was procured at Vadso, and 
he found it very warm. It pulled right down over 
the head. The outside was covered with brown 
otter-skin. A veil of fur is sometimes used in 
very windy and frosty weather. 

It was quite a business to remember how to 
put the clothes on. The attendant Lapp would 
at times forget something, and then the 
operation of dressing would have to be partially 
redone. The Lapps sometimes wear two paesks, 
one with the fur inside next to the body and 
another with the fur outside. The style of dress 
is hundreds of years old, and is very practical, 
because one never feels the cold when once this 
novel and curious toilet is adopted. At the same 
time it was exceedingly troublesome to walk about 



FROM BOSSKOP TO VADS5 105 



properly in it ; not so much with regard to our 
striking appearance, which might be thought 
calculated to produce a dangerous effect on the 
softer sex, but by reason of its warmth, a 
consideration of capital importance. The most 
difficult part of the operation consisted in the 
preparation of our gloves and shoes, and stuffing 
them properly with the dried sena grass. This 
is first prepared by warming it before the fire, 
pulling it out, and rubbing it well together in 
order to render it soft and pliable. A quantity 
of it is then formed into a round ball and placed 
within the shoe, leaving a cavity for the foot, 
which reposes softly and warmly in the middle, 
and round the sides. The nicety of this opera- 
tion, which few but the Laplanders understand 
properly, consists in arranging the sena so that 
every part of the shoe is completely and uni- 
formly filled. It is by no means unessential, 
since for want of this care you may not only 
travel in misery should the cold penetrate to any 
part, but serious consequences such as frostbites 
may result. 

The Laplanders never wear stockings, and 
place their naked feet within the sena ; for 
stockings and socks, instead of keeping up the 
warmth of the foot, interfere with that produced 
by the sena by causing a less free circulation. 



106 



THROUGH LAPLAND 



However, with a pair of wool stockings of 
Shetland make and a pair of goat-hair socks, 
there was no reason to complain of the cold, 
although the tightness produced at times a 
numbness, which is not the case when the feet 
are unconfmed. 

The paesk, from its great weight and bulk, 
and being made exactly like the ploughman's 
smock one used to see in Sussex, is not very 
easily got on by those unused to it. 

At last we arranged our dress to our satisfac- 
tion, and could not sufficiently admire each 
other's appearance, or cease to wonder at the 
change. We looked like strange hairy bipeds 
and quadrupeds, for as we were entirely clothed 
in the skins of reindeer it was not easy to 
distinguish us from these animals, save by 
the number of our legs and our figures, which 
might, perhaps, be compared to bears standing 
upright. The stature of the merchants, thus 
swelled out, appeared truly gigantic and formid- 
able, exhibiting a complete contrast to the more 
diminutive Lapps standing round. My net weight 
is not very small, but I should be sorry to 
mention the figure it made with this full 
dress on, although it seemed to make no dif- 
ference to the reindeer. Once inside the pulka, 
we looked like children in swaddling-clothes 




To face p. 100. 



FROM BOSSKOP TO VADSO 107 



in a cradle, and no accident en route could 
possibly have separated us from the shell and 
canoe. Eeindeer skins were put in the bottom 
of the pulkas to sit on, and one of our bags 
in the bow to press our feet against going- 
downhill, like a footstool or the plank in a 
rowing-boat. 

Our reindeer had arrived from Karasjok with 
two smart, tall, handsome young Lapps. The 
twelve animals were peacefully eating the moss 
outside the hotel, while our two vappus 1 and 
Johann Thiirri were loading up the baggage on 
the sledges. Bidding adieu to our hotel acquaint- 
ance and to Mr. and Mrs. Wiggs, the proprietors, 
the reindeer were harnessed and the bells ring- 
ing on the necks of the animals. The names of 
our Lapp drivers were Peter and John Johnsen, 
who were going to take us to Karasjok and 
Enare, in Eussian Lapland. We had made a 
bargain for the twelve reindeer from Bosskop to 
Enare for 260 kroner and a present to the 
vappus. There is supposed to be a regular tariff 
for the reindeer, according to the Norwegian law, 
but as it is never kept it is best to make a 
bargain before starting. Considering that they 
had to come all the way from Karasjok and 
return from Enare to Karasjok, we thought this 

1 Drivers. 



108 THROUGH LAPLAND 



price very moderate, as the vappus and reindeer 
were very good. 

Peter led the caravan, and I came next. 
Thurri, whom we called Johnnie, followed ; then 
Borg Mesch and Peter's brother brought up the 
rest with the baggage. 

We had had beautiful weather and a hot sun 
during our stay at Bosskop, and the night before 
leaving a very fine aurora borealis. This was 
not a welcome sign, as it meant a change in 
the weather, either for snow or wind. But the 
morning turned out lovely, and having bade 
farewell to Mr. Lund, director of the bank at 
Hammerfest, the Chief of the Police, and other 
friends who had just arrived from Kautokeino 
to study the Lapps, we at last got away amid 
the barking of many dogs, waving our hands 
to the numerous Finmark beauties who also had 
come to see us oft 

The first part of the road was uphill, and 
the procession, with slow and melancholy steps, 
silently ploughed through the snow, the Lap- 
landers walking at the heads of the deer. 
Having got clear of the small enclosures round 
Bosskop, we entered the Alten forest. The 
track was hard, and the deer, having their heads 
given them, started off with spirit, and were 
quickly trotting and galloping down the slopes 



FROM BOSSKOP TO VADSO 109 



and hills. As this was my fourth expedition, I 
knew how to drive and sit in a pulka, and my 
companions were of course experienced. When 
a beginner, however, one is generally left pros- 
trate in the snow, the pulka on its side, and 
the deer making a furious assault on the novice, 
knowing his inexperience. It is difficult at first 
to preserve the balance and prevent the pulka 
overturning, owing to the rate at which it travels 
and the roughness of the surface, but one soon 
gets accustomed to throwing the weight quickly 
on the one side or the other, as the case may 
be. Often when the deer start they seem wild 
and crazy, as if a dog had startled them, and 
an untamed deer takes a deal of management to 
get him to go straight and quickly ahead. But 
whatever happens one must not lose grip of the 
rein, which is twisted round the wrist. 

The road was very mountainous, but good, 
passing through woods of silver birch. The 
first day we did not intend going very far, and 
stopped at a very prettily situated farmhouse 
at Eomsdal, belonging to Fru Eaundi, about 
15 kilometres from Bosskop. Inquiring if we 
could get a room, the owner was sorry that 
she could not possibly oblige us. We saw the 
smoke and knew that a nice fire was burning 
to cook our evening meal. 



110 



THROUGH LAPLAND 



It was of no importance, however, as we had 
our Whymper tent, and in less than five minutes 
the Lapps had put it up. The country all round 
was thickly wooded with fir- and pine-trees, and 
there were lovely ski-runs for exercise before 
turning in. 

The fire w T as very good, and, changing our 
paesks and reindeer shoes in the farmhouse, 
we immediately put on ski-boots and wind- 
jackets and went for a run round Eomsdal. 
Towards evening we tried lassoing, the Lapps 
being very clever and seldom missing the object. 
Many other Lapps and women arrived from 
Bosskop on their way back from the market. 

Lighting our Primus stove, the tent soon got 
heated and we had a good light. The reindeer 
had been unharnessed and taken up the moun- 
tains for the moss, Johann staying with them all 
night as a guard against wolves. After dinner 
in the farmhouse we turned into our tent and 
into the sleeping-bags of reindeer, and were very 
comfortable and warm. But at last, after a 
month's fine weather, snow began to fall, and we 
felt we were in for some bad weather. 

Next morning we rose at 5 a.m. in order to 
start at 9 a.m., for we allowed four hours in 
which to dress — or, rather, undress and dress 
again, as we always slept in our clothes. Our 



FROM BOSSKOP TO VADSO 111 



first meal was tea and bread and butter, and 
there was a good fire to boil the water. 

The big meal of the day came at 7 a.m. It 
was difficult at first to get accustomed to din- 
ing at this hour in the morning, instead of seven 
or eight o'clock in the evening ; but as we never 
knew when the next meal might be, it was as 
well to be certain of one. Fresh reindeer 
meat was cut up and put into boiling water to 
make the good soup or bouillon. Sardines, por- 
ridge, cold ham, eggs, and marmalade were our 
ordinary menu. In a cold climate a large quan- 
tity of solid food is necessary to keep the body 
warm during the day. Condensed meats or soups 
are quite inadequate. 

Our Lapp drivers had gone up into the moun- 
tains to fetch the reindeer down for starting, and 
it took considerable skill to lasso them. 

After breakfast we changed our shoes and 
warmed the hay or dried grass, a process which 
took about fifteen minutes, as the feet during 
the day and night get damp with perspiration. 
This is one of the most important things to 
remember, since changing and drying the hay 
keeps the feet warm for the next twenty-four 
hours. 

After breakfast, and when we had filled our 
Thermos flasks with reindeer bouillon, we began 



112 THROUGH LAPLAND 



to pack up to go to the next rest-house, or 
Government fjeldstue, which is called a " Stat- 
enstue," at Jokasjarre. The "fore" at first was 
good, through woods and across a lake, but it 
became less favourable, and a heavy snowstorm 
with a strong north-east wind blew into our faces, 
and the new snow was so deep that it made 
it very heavy going for the reindeer. At times 
we could only make two miles an hour, and our 
faces had a thick veil of ice and frozen snow 
over them. In the photograph here reproduced 
the reindeer may be seen plodding up the steep 
mountain fjeld above the snow-line. Stones and 
crosses on this desolate mountain were all that 
could be seen. A caravan joined us, and a Lapp 
woman who knew the winterway well helped us 
a good deal. We could only just have our noses 
uncovered to breathe, and the mouth was covered 
with a mass of ice which joined to our mous- 
taches. A severe frostbite caught me on the 
cheek, and I only discovered it the next day, 
when I saw that my face was blue, as if it had 
been bruised 

The Lapp dogs were very useful, and worked 
hard, showing the way and cheering up the rein- 
deer with their barking in front. We were very 
pleased to see the " fjeldstue," and soon forgot the 
cold and rough experience we had gone through. 



FROM BOSSKOP TO VADSO 113 



It was a well-built house, but hardly visible 
above the drift snow. The comfortable beds 
were made of twigs, giving the effect of a spring 
mattress, and reindeer skins on the top. The 
Government pay the guardian so many kronen 
a year to live in this rest-house, and he cleans 
it and looks after the china, knives, and cook- 
ing utensils. He also sees to the supply of wood 
for the fires and paraffin oil for the lamps. 

A fiddle was hanging up, and Mr. Mesch and 
myself took it in turn to play. It had been 
made by the man in the house, and had quite 
a good tone. Mr. Mesch also sang Swedish 
and Finnish songs, and can play the piano very 
well. His grandmother was Scotch, and he was 
born in Delacarlia. He is an officer in the 
Swedish Army, and well knows the manners and 
customs of the Lapps. His business is that of 
a photographer in Kiruna, and he is known all 
over Sweden. He lived some time in America, 
and speaks English fluently. All night it was 
snowing and blowing hard, and it was well to be 
under shelter above the snow-line, for there was 
no habitation for many miles around. 

The Lapps could not let the reindeer go loose, 
so they had to tie them up and bring the moss 
to them. Only a few nights before a Lapp 
caravan lost eight reindeer killed by the wolves. 

9 



114 THROUGH LAPLAND 



This fjeldstue was built in 1878, and we took 
photographs of it while it was snowing. The 
next morning we left for Mollesjok fjeldstue. It 
was still snowing and blowing hard. On arrival 
there, at 6.30 p.m., we found nice beds of silver 
birch twigs and a good fire. 

The next day we still had to plod on through 
the snowstorms and high mountain fjelds, and 
we arrived at Ravnastuen fjeldstue. We met 
here the second Lensman, Mr. Johansen, and 
a merchant, Mr. Berg, from Karasjok. We got 
plenty of information, and were very pleased to 
arrive there, as it was only a short distance 
from Karasjok. This was a large and fre- 
quented fjeldstue. A new house is going to be 
built. The ordinary charge for one person each 
night is one kronen, and this is very moderate. 
A present for the caretaker or guardian is cus- 
tomary. A visitors' book is kept, and all names 
are written in it, including information as to 
the last place the traveller stayed at and where 
he is going to, his profession and nationality. 

The following day we arrived at Karasjok, at 
the new Staten fjeldstue, which is kept by 
Mr. and Mrs. Nielsen, the latter speaking English 
very well. It is a very large hotel and is quite 
up-to-date. The last one had been burnt down. 

At Karasjok we all felt at home, as we had 



FROM BOSSKOP TO VADSO 115 



made a visit the year before to this place. 
In fact, Karasjok is the Crewe or Clapham 
Junction of Lapland, all roads leading to it 
from north, south, east, and west. There is 
a telegraph and telephone station and post- 
office, a Lensman, a pastor, and several shops 
kept by Norwegian merchants. 

It is a beautifully situated town, a great centre 
of the Lapp population, and contains schools for 
the rising generation. Here we got our letters 
and papers from England, which had arrived via 
Hammerfest and Kolvik. 

The road from the last rest-house to Karas- 
jok was downhill all the way, through splendid 
pine woods. In some parts the decline was so 
steep, with deep precipices at the side, that the 
vappus tied an extra reindeer at the back to 
make a brake and keep the pulka steady. The 
reindeers, when galloping fast downhill, owing 
to the pulka touching their legs, have to be 
handled with caution. Among the rocks and 
trees, too, it would be easy to sprain an ankle 
if the legs were not kept in the pulka. The deer 
behind does not like his neck pulled, and keeps 
the pulka straight. Without the deer behind 
the pulka would go faster than the reindeer in 
front, and would twist round or upset. 

We passed many wolf-tracks and spoor on the 



116 THROUGH LAPLAND 



way, and the " fore " was good going. When 
the snow has just fallen and is very deep, it 
looks often as if one would have to stop and 
sleep in it. It seemed sometimes quite impos- 
sible to proceed, the snow through which we 
had to cut our way being 6 ft. deep and more. 
The vappus is obliged to leave his sledge, and, 
wading through the snow and dragging the deer 
after him he finds a way where the snow is not 
so deep. It is difficult to keep on the same 
track, as the deer sometimes become unmanage- 
able and draw the pulka into deep parts. Very 
often the travellers, if the deer are tired and 
cannot reach their destination, have to sleep in 
the snow, which is, however, very warm, espe- 
cially if one is provided with a sleeping-bag, 
although the thermometer may be lower than 
zero. Snowdrifts blowing in one's face w 7 hen 
you are so near the ground are most uncomfort- 
able, and certainly if one has time it is best to 
stop in a fjeldstue till brighter weather. Wind 
is always colder than hard frost, but when the 
thermometer is 30° or 40° below zero there is 
seldom any wind. 

The reindeer are stopped about every four 
hours to rest or feed on the moss, this enabling 
them to recover breath and to eat the snow to 
quench their thirst, 



FROM BOSSKOP TO VADSO 117 



The traveller often finds himself feeling very 
sleepy and drowsy when crossing the large lakes, 
and if not well balanced and the surface is 
uneven, it is easy to be upset. I have slept 
many hours in a pulka lying flat down, the cap 
over the eyes, and with the hands just outside 
to prevent one tumbling out where rough snow 
is encountered. Of course, comfort depends on 
a good sledge, which should be roomy and 
not too high from the ground. One can then 
lie full length and not get cramped or incon- 
venienced. 

If one gets a frostbite or cold in the face it 
is best to rub the cheek with snow. It gener- 
ally attacks the glands and round the chin, and 
it feels like mumps. But when travelling fast in 
a pulka one gets into a perfect glow from the 
exercise, and the body gets quite warm. 

It is difficult to describe the singularly vivid 
coruscations of many of the heavenly bodies, 
changing from flame-colour or orange to that of 
a deep ruby, each ray being distinctly conveyed 
to the eye through the pure surrounding ether. 
The flashing of the Nordlys began also to play 
around us. A pale sheet of flame first streamed 
from the zenith. Its quivering fires then darted 
swiftly along the heavens and increased the sub- 
limity of the scene, while the planet of night, 



118 THROUGH LAPLAND 



riding high in the firmament, cast a mild and 
pensive lustre. 

When there is a hoar-frost every spray glistens 
on the trees, and telegraph-wires look as if 
pendant with countless gems ; the gay sparkle 
of innumerable crystals from the surrounding 
illumination brought to the recollection the 
tales of fairy lands. Sometimes we seemed 
to be passing through enchanted forests, and 
Nature seemed to be displaying to us her 
magic wonders to cheer the hours of night. 
With our strange figures thickly encrusted with 
frost and rime, and hurrying silently along, we 
had less the appearance of men than of some 
unearthly beings, or of a band of goblins skim- 
ming the waste to perform their midnight orgies 
and "dance with Lapland w 7 itches." 

Owing to the bad weather the first few 
days after leaving Bosskop, we took five days 
on the march to Karasjok, latitude 69° 35', the 
distance as the crow flies being only 220 kilo- 
metres. After a good bath and rest we 
changed our Lapp dress and put on our or- 
dinary clothes, ski boots, and skis, and called on 
our friends. The house of Mr. and Mrs. Hegge, 
the Lensman and his wife, is the best building 
in Karasjok, and is furnished in the latest and 
most comfortable style. A Lensman corresponds 



FROM BOSSKOP TO VADSft 119 



to our District Commissioners in Africa, and 
he has a great deal of responsibility. Here 
we obtained all information for our next journey 
to Angeli, on the Anajokki Eiver frontier, be- 
tween Norway and Eussian Lapland. Of this 
part of Norway there are no regular maps 
published yet, and we could not find any one 
who had been to Enare. We also called on 
the pastor and his wife, the Eev. and Mrs. 
Jensen, also on Mr. Hegge and his charming wife 
and sister-in-law. Every one seemed to speak 
English in Karasjok, and were most kind in 
showing us the best ski-runs. The clergyman 
had another new chapel about thirty miles 
further south for the Lapps who remain in 
tents among the mountains. 

The weather had again turned fine and there 
was a full moon. At the hotel observations of 
the temperature were taken every day for 
Government information. 

It was nice to hear the deer coming through 
the town with their tinkling bells. We took 
photographs of Karasjok, the church, telegraph 
office, and the fine river. Mosquitoes are, by 
the way, very bad in July, but the fishing is 
then very good in the Tana Eiver. We re- 
mained here a few days and then started for the 
next fjeldstue on the Eiver Iskarajoki. The 



120 THROUGH LAPLAND 



mountains, covered with the deepest snow and 
without trees, would make an ideal ski-ing 
ground. 

Our fresh deer were much faster and stronger, 
and trotted all the way, and one or two young 
reindeer joined our caravan and ran by the 
side along the route; they had been lost from 
the herd of some Lapp encampment or were 
too tired to keep up with them. 

Our next fjeldstue was half-way between 
Karasjok and Angeli, and was quite new. There 
was no one in it, so the Lensman gave the 
vappus the key to open it. It was situated in 
a very picturesque site on the Kiver Iskarajoki, 
and contained two large rooms, one for our- 
selves and the other for the Lapps. There was 
plenty of wood for fuel for the two fires, and 
oil lamps and a supply of paraffin. The little 
buildings are made of trees and logs, with the 
interstices filled in with tarpaulin to keep 
the cold out, and of course they have double 
windows. 

Not many travellers come down this way, 
and the "Dagbod" had very few names in it. 

The following morning, after leaving the little 
bungalow clean and just as we found it, we 
proceeded to Angeli. 

The "fore" was very good and passed by 




AUTHOR AND LAPP SLEEPING IN THE SNOW. 



To face p. 1-20. 



FROM BOSSKOP TO VADSO 121 



a very picturesque river. Here we stayed at 
another very comfortable fjeldstue, with a 
splendid open wood fire. The name of the 
place is Bassevoudstuen, on the Anajokki Kiver, 
on the other side of which was Finland. Many 
Finnish and Lapp buildings were scattered 
about here. 

This place was in the middle of the pine 
forests, and the custodian or guardian who looked 
after the house was most attentive in getting us 
water and wood. The women also helped, and 
there was excellent food for the reindeer, the 
moss being very plentiful. The snow was 4 ft. 
deep everywhere, and the deer had much 
work to clear the snow away with their fore 
legs to dig down to the yellow moss. 

All the way on the Tana Eiver and the 
banks of the Karajokka we saw remarkably fine 
forests of firs and pine-trees, which mostly 
belong to the Government. We passed several 
kerris carrying merchandise. They are made of 
fir planks strongly ribbed inside, about 7 ft. high 
and 3 ft. in the broadest part across. 

In Karasjok horses pull the regular sledges, 
as the Kiver Tana is flat to Utjoki and Polmak, 
also to Kolvik and Kistrand, which are the mail 
routes. Horse sledges are comfortable. In them 
it is like lying in a big bed on hay, and covered 



122 THROUGH LAPLAND 



with blankets and rugs. They can only be 
used on a broad surface and when the snow 
is hard ; in deep snow horses are too heavy 
and reindeers are much faster. The last rein- 
deer, by the way, in a pulka has the easiest 
work, as those in front make a deep hollow 
furrow in the snow. 

We paid three kronen to the Lensman for the 
use of the fjeldstue at Angeli ; the ordinary price 
is seventy-five ore each for ourselves and fifty 
ore each for a Lappman. 

Leaving the rest-house at Bassevoudstuen, we 
crossed the river, and were now in Finland or 
Russian Lapland. 

The morning was hot and the snow soft 
and very deep. A Lapp woman with beautiful 
features and a knowledge of the road led us 
part of the way. One could not help imagining 
that if she had been dressed in the latest Paris 
creations she would have vied with the beauties 
of the day. We often tried to get a photograph 
of their women in semi-decolletee, like our English 
sisters, but never succeeded. The only time 
we ever saw them was in the fjeldstues feeding 
their bairnies. Their skin was as white as 
marble. 

The fore was not good for the first few miles 
through the pine woods, and the road was very 



FROM BOSSKOP TO VADSO 123 



deep, owing to the softness of the snow. Our 
Lapp lady was going to meet her family and 
her husband a few kilometres distant, ] and we 
soon came upon a herd of a thousand rein- 
deer, with some other Lapp women and men 
looking after them. Of course, they were ] all 
on skis and carried lassos round their bodies 
to catch the strayers. We came across some 
very fine Lapp dogs, a sort of large Pomeranian 
breed, some jet black and with no tails. The dogs 
lead the same hardy life as the Lapp, and are 
never petted. They know exactly what to do. 
Very wonderful is the way these dogs have of 
running after the caravans for days in the heavy 
snow, never lying down till they arrive at their 
destination. 

This Lapp encampment looked like some noble- 
man's park filled with deer. We took excellent 
photographs of the Lapps on their skis, and, as 
in the case of other subjects for our camera, 
sent copies to them after our return home. We 
must have sent hundreds of photographs in this 
way, but it is impossible to say if they got 
them. 

In the evening the going was better and it 
was getting colder and the snow hard. We 
arrived at a place called Tirro, and slept in 
a nice clean Finnish farmhouse. Next morning, 



124 THROUGH LAPLAND 



the Sabbath, we saw a glorious sunrise, and 
the fore was excellent. At Eintula we saw a 
large new building and stopped and paid it a 
visit. It was for the poor and children from 
Enare and the district, and was in many respects 
arranged like a hospital. All the notices were 
in Eussian. A Eussian lady showed us over 
it. They told us here that no one remembered 
such deep snow for fifty years. 

The road to Enare was very good, with banks 
of snow on each side, made by the pulkas going 
to and coming from this house. We arrived at 
midday and saw the church of Enare with its 
high steeple standing out above the lake. 

Enare was one of the places I particularly 
wanted to see, as I could not find books or 
description of this part of Finland in any of 
the Geographical Societies' libraries. The only 
way was to go and see for myself. It is one 
of the oldest Lapp towns and marked on all 
the maps. 

Our reindeer trotted up in great form and 
freshness, as if knowing it was the end of their 
journey. We were greeted as usual by numbers 
of dogs barking and people coming out to see 
who we were. We all had Eussian passports, 
but these were not necessary. The first thing 
was to ask where to find the rest-house, called 



FROM BOSSKOP TO VADSO 125 



in Finnish a gastivare (hotel or rest-house), put 
up by the State. 

Alighting here, we found most comfortable 
rooms, well heated, with two good beds and 
the first blankets we had seen for a long time. 
In the cafe adjoining, facing the lake, many 
people were chattering and an accordion and 
other music playing. 

We were very pleased to get the rest after 
travelling so hard, and the first thing we did 
was to ask for a " bastue " (Finnish for vapour- 
bath), and to change our clothes. 

Enare is quite a large place, with large open 
squares, a Eussian post office and of course 
Eussian stamps and money, and a small wooden 
house called a gaol at the back of the fine 
wooden church with its high steeple. 

Our first call was on the Lensman, Mr. 
Alaranta, and we saw him and his young 
Eussian wife, who had passed in honours at the 
University at Helsingfors and spoke French a 
little. They were most hospitable, and asked us 
to dinner and gave us all the information we 
required, and a new map to find our way up 
north to Petchenga and Kola. 

Getting out of our Lapp dress, we soon put on 
our skis and visited the merchant postmaster, 
and were thus able to send letters to England. 



126 THROUGH LAPLAND 



The mails go by reindeer to Kitila, and from 
there with horse sledges to Eovaniemi and Hels- 
ingfors. The telegraph and telephone are soon 
to be carried to Enare. 

We were still thinking of the delicious bath 
that was to come, and our kind host immediately 
ordered one to be got ready for us at seven 
o'clock that evening. It was not the first vapour- 
bath I had had in Lapland, but it may be well 
to describe it, prefacing the account with the 
words " Honi soit qui mal y pense." The reader 
must judge for himself. It is one of the oldest 
baths in the country, and its refreshing powers 
after a long journey are like the finest cham- 
pagne; it reminds one of the early years when 
nurse gave you your bath. This curious opera- 
tion in Lapland is done by the youngest females 
of the house, and on this occasion by very good- 
looking girls of seventeen and nineteen. 

The " bastue " or vapour-bath of Finland is a 
small wooden building away from the house, and 
is made of logs. It is divided into two com- 
partments, one to undress in and the other where 
the oven is to produce the steam. The oven is 
arched with large stones or pebbles, and heated 
by a fire placed beneath. Undressing in the 
first room, one enters the heated room. Then 
after a short rest on a wooden form or bench, 



FROM BOSSKOP TO VADSO 127 



which contains a place for the head, the girls 
come in and bathe you. Cold water is thrown 
over the stones, and the hissing vapour soon 
sends a cloud of steam up. The higher you sit 
from the floor the greater is the heat felt. 
These young girls, besides being tall and well 
shaped and proportioned, knew exactly what to 
do. The dim light faintly illuminating the bath 
rendered scarcely visible the mysterious opera- 
tions which they were now commencing. 
Throwing water over the redhot stones, the 
vapour became so intense that we could hardly 
breathe. We were gasping for breath and 
covered with a profuse perspiration which issued 
from every pore of the skin. Here we were six 
in a bath, all nude, and hanging up were tender 
branches or twigs in a green state and retaining 
the leaves. These were for the bastinado later. 

The first part of the performance was over, 
and presently my fair companion came to my 
assistance. Dipping twigs in the water, she 
began lashing and whipping me across the legs, 
shoulders, loins, and back. My Lapp Thurri 
also helped, till my body seemed quite red with 
the switching. I began now to appreciate the 
pleasure that travellers have told me is derived 
from the habit of using the bastue. 

The third performance now commenced, the 



128 THROUGH LAPLAND 

heat reaching to 140° Fahrenheit. With a soft 
flannel covered with soap, my companion with 
the softest of hands proceeded to wash me, 
standing up and sitting down on a stool or one 
of the benches. And lastly, to end the operation 
in this chamber, she took a jug of the coldest 
water and threw it over my head and body. In 
a previous experience the author had opened the 
door and rolled in the snow outside, but on this 
occasion the snow was too hard. Leaving the 
bath, the bather is conducted into the chamber 
adjoining, and the fair attendant dries him with 
a large towel. 

The bastue is universal throughout Eussia, 
Finland, and parts of Lapland. Every Saturday 
evening the whole family resort to it, males and 
females at the same time, the latter performing 
the offices of the bath for the former. No 
doubt it is greatly conducive to the health by 
promoting cleanliness from the powerful action 
of steam upon the body. Many medical men 
now recommend this form of bath, and it is 
getting better known in this country. It is 
a cheap bath to make, and could easily be 
erected at the bottom of a small London 
garden. Of course, we could not have it ad- 
ministered in the same way as in Lapland and 
Finland, where the freedom between the sexes 



FROM BOSSKOP TO VADS5 129 



from their earliest infancy renders their inter- 
course at the bastue perfectly innocent and harm- 
less. Often in passing through villages the 
smoke issuing from the small aperture of these 
bath structures can be seen. 

Next day we visited the postmaster and bought 
Kussian stamps, the daughter of the postmaster 
showing us the different stamps used. After- 
wards we called on the Handelsman, Trans 
Kangasniemi, and made a bargain to get a 
vappus and ten reindeer to Kirkeness. We re- 
gretted much leaving the two drivers who had 
brought us so well and safely from Bosskop and 
can certainly recommend them very highly to 
any other travellers following in our footsteps. 
Their names were Peter and John Johnsen of 
Karasjok. 

The merchant agreed to let us have the 
reindeer for this journey for 140 kroner. Here 
the reindeer were much larger and stronger than 
the mountain reindeer, and more docile and 
tame, and accustomed to eating hay. 

Our route was across the great Lake Bnare, 
100 kilometres long. The deer trotted very 
fast, and lying down flat at the bottom of 
the pulka, I went to sleep while crossing this 
large lake for many hours. We stopped for 
lunch and moss for the reindeer at Poltoniemi. 

10 



130 THROUGH LAPLAND 



Many hundreds of islands are on the lake, and 
the owner of this farm was a Laplander, Anti 
Aikia, a member of the Lapp Commission held 
in 1911. 

That night we stopped at Vuontisjaure, also 
a very nice farm. There were many hundreds 
of reindeer here, and they were very tame and 
came close up to the house. Many bears and 
wolves exist in this part of Finland, and the 
Government premium is about £2 10s. for a 
bear and £5 for a wolf. The old bear, who likes 
eating the young calves of the reindeer, is difficult 
to trace by his spoor, as he hibernates before the 
snow comes down. 

Our midday meal the next day we had at 
Karsikkimiemi. Towards evening we saw many 
Lapps round large camp fires in the woods, 
stopping for the night and sleeping in the open 
in the snow. There was a very fine display of 
the Northern Lights. 

We stopped at Yarpuniemi, a large farmhouse 
kept by the Lapp Peter Siri. Here were good 
ski-runs round the house. The skis of the Lap- 
landers are much longer here than in the moun- 
tains. The weather was excellent, and the good 
fore made our reindeer run very fast down the 
slopes. The country was getting mountainous 
again. 



FROM BOSSKOP TO VADSO 131 



We arrived at our destination at Keisvuono 
Bugofjord, at the house of Mr. Gunnari, the 
Handelsman and postmaster. The run from 
Enare to this point was certainly the fastest and 
finest journey I have ever made with reindeer; 
the snow surface was excellent, and the pulkas 
seemed to skim the top like a skate. The sun 
was bright all day, with a keen sharpness in the 
air, and frost and a beautiful moon at night. 

The house we stopped at and the small annexe 
for travellers was most comfortable, and was 
provided with a telegraph and telephone office. 
We were again in Finmarken, on the Var anger- 
fjord, the opposite coast to Vadso. At Nieden 
we might have gone on to Kirkeness, but as we 
could not make the vappus understand — he only 
spoke Finnish — we came a little out of the way. 

From here we telephoned to Kirkeness to the 
harbour-master, Mr. Anker, who was expecting us. 

The date was the 19th March, and the ther- 
mometer registered 28° Celsius. There were 
splendid ski slopes all round, this part of Fin- 
mark and Lapland being mountainous. Vadso 
is six days by steamer to London via Bergen 
and Newcastle. 

In the early morning there was a thick fog in 
the fjord, called a frost rog. 1 But the sun soon 

1 Kime. 



132 



THROUGH LAPLAND 



shone out brightly, and it soon cleared away, 
and a beautiful view was obtained of the little 
bay, the sea covered with thick ice, with millions 
of snow-flowers on the surface. 

An Account of a Journey written in Lappish by the 
Author's Interpreter, and Translated by Professor 
wlklund, xjpsala university, sweden. 

I am now going to describe the journey I made with an 
Englishman. Twice we travelled together. On the first 
occasion we went from Kiruna, journeyed on to Karesuando, 
from there to Kautokeino, from that place to Karasjok, next 
to Kolvik, and thence by sea to Lodingen, where we parted. 
The Englishman was very nice to me — in fact, the most 
agreeable and sensible gentleman I had ever travelled with. 
He never cheated any one. His name is Mr. Frank Hedges 
Butler. And it was a very enjoyable journey for me, inasmuch 
as Mr. Butler always treated me with the greatest kindness. 
On our second journey Borg Mesch accompanied us both 
ways. Then I thought it would be worse for me, but it- 
turned out to be better, and, when we parted, he made me 
a handsome present, and now I am grateful for the picture- 
books I got from you, dear Butler. I am now going to add 
some little [details] about the marvels of our journey. 

2ith February 1914. 

Now I and B. Mesch went from Kiruna to Norway to 
meet Mr. Frank Butler, who is a great personage from 
England. We met in Lodingen, and it was a most pleasant 
meeting. (The journey from Kiruna did not come off until 
the 26th.) Our meeting took place at Lodingen at night. 
We reached there at ten o'clock, changed steamer at twelve, 
and met Mr. Butler, the Englishman. He received ua in a 



FROM BOSSKOP TO VADSO 133 



friendly way. It was now the 27th inst., and we reached 
Finsnes at 8.30. It is on the Isle of Senjen. We got to 
Tromso by noon, and left it at three o'clock. Then once more 
we went by the direct boat, so fast that the water seemed like 
smoke ; and again it grew dark. Supper on the boat was at 
eight o'clock. At 3.30 the boat arrived at Hammerfest, and 
again we at once changed into another steamer. It was after 
nightfall when we changed, but it was warm weather and 
there was but little snow. It was on the morning of the 28th. 
In the previous year we were a long time at Hammerfest, and 
there was a nice young lady at the hotel. She had, however, 
died,, and my Mr. Butler was not at all at the hotel, because 
his lady friend was no longer living. 

The steamer we travelled by reached Bosskop at 8 p.m., 
and when we got to the hotel there were so many gentlemen 
there that they could not accommodate me ; but the barmaid 
went out and found me a room, and [I] met many nice 
people. I took my meals at the hotel, and many Lapps and 
pretty girls came there, many of whom were relations of 
mine. These Lapps had a custom different from the Lapps 
of Jukasjarvi, since many wives and daughters had come to 
Bosskop across the great fells. 

1st March, Sunday. 

Beautiful weather. It thawed and was like summer. We 
also went to church on skis, and saw the men and women 
sitting together. That is not the custom in Sweden — there 
the women sit apart. 

2nd March, Monday. 

It is colder to-day. 

3rd March, Tuesday. 

Lovely weather. Some Austrians came to Bosskop who 
had travelled through Lapland and taken many cinemato- 
graphs. They paid the Lapps whatever they asked, and 
made notes of their condition. 



134 THROUGH LAPLAND 



&th March, Wednesday. 
We ski-ed to-day for five hours, and then a message came 
that the gentlemen were arriving. 

5th March, Thursday. 
In Bosskop, beautiful weather, and there were a great 
many people, as it was market-day. 

6th March, Friday. 
We left Bosskop, and stayed the night at Tronsnes, but 
we did not go into the hut, but pitched our tent and spread 
hides. Butler had a machine that burned, and no smoke 
came from it, but it just warmed the tent. It was not, 
however, overwarm. 

7th March, Saturday. 
It was the highest mountain, and the weather was cold and 
stormy. It took us seven hours and twenty minutes to reach 
Jotkajavrre. 

8th March, Sunday. 
Started again on our journey. Mountainous ; rough 
weather, and cold. We almost froze. Deep snow and bad 
travelling. No one knew the way except the Lapp, who had 
learnt to recognize it. I was now afraid that Mr. Butler 
would freeze to death ; and I, too, was freezing. Butler 
wanted to drive at racing speed, but the reindeer could not 
run faster than the foremost driver drove. Then the gentle- 
man wanted me to drive in front. When I did so I had a 
bearskin collar round my neck — a collar the Lapps call 
dcebet-navdde — and the reindeer had never seen anything of 
the kind before, so it started running in its fright. If it 
had run for a little while in that way it would not have 
been able to reach anywhere. Well, it was a dreadful day. 
We arrived at the Molles hat. It was a hut belonging to 
the Government, which pays the man who lives there. It is 
on the bare mountain, and there is no fuel within a distance 
of 5 kilometres and no proper trees for 10 kilometres. 



FROM BOSSKOP TO VADSO 135 



9th March, Monday. 
At Mollesjokk. Eesume the journey, and in rough weather, 
feoo. Another four miles before us. Very cold. 

10th March, Tuesday. 
Hut at Ravnas. When we reached here we were numbed 
with cold ; the Englishman was so frozen that he could hardly 
stand. Everywhere up to now there were plenty of people. 
And I also was freezing. 

11 th March, Wednesday. 

We now reached Karasjok. 

12th March, Thursday. 
Birch woods now, and, in spite of the rough weather, it is 
somewhat better than on the mountains. When the road 
began to slope down towards Karasjok the hills were so 
high that they were dangerous. Many Lapps and also 
gentlemen had met their deaths in driving here from being 
unused to driving. When we came down to the River 
Karasjok we had a good two miles drive before we reached 
the village of Karasjok and its church. There was a telegraph 
station there. 

13th March, Friday. 

There was a hotel in Karasjok, at which we put up. Our 
Mr. Butler telegraphed to England where we were and 
where we were going. 

When we journeyed from Karasjok to Enare our way 
was again across a small, low mountain. On our journey 
dead and half-dead reindeer were seen, but there was no 
other sickness except hunger. Thus ended another day, and 
it grew dark, and then came a very high hill along which the 
reindeer ran. The sleighs rolled about, and we had our hearts 
in our mouths when we glided down the hill — all stones and 
large boulders — and it was nothing short of a miracle that we 
got down safe and sound. When, however, we reached the 
houses they were so crammed with people that there was 



136 THROUGH LAPLAND 



no room in any cottage in the place ; but there was a hufc 
for travellers a little way farther down — one of those provided 
by the State — and so we drove to it, although it was already 
dark. There was a big river running by the road, and its 
name was Iskurasjokka. We reached the hut provided for 
travellers. There was wood ready, but the hut was cold, 
since nobody lived in its, and we were obliged to keep up a 
fire all night. 

lith March, Saturday, 
Journey resumed to Enare. The tracks began to get bad. 

I have heard say that salmon rises along the Karasjok 
stream as far as Snosjavrre. A branch of a river descends 
to the Karasjok stream. 

In Northern Norway the mountains are level, just as in 
Russia around Manasteri, where I have been, but they seem 
to be colder, inasmuch as the Lapps in these parts ha,ve their 
clothes better provided against the cold than is the case with 
the Lapps in Jukasjarvi, as, for instance, their caps and 
leather gaiters are much warmer. The caps are of three 
thicknesses, and the gaiters and shoes of one piece. And 
they are warm. 



"k r 



CHAPTEK V 



PETCHENGA AND THE MONASTERY OF 
ST. TEYPHON 

Journey to Petchenga, in Russian Lapland — Visit to Petchenga 
Monastery, founded by St. Tryphon, 1533— History of Tryphon — 
His death, 1583 — Later vicissitudes of the monastery — Massacre 
of the monks and destruction of the buildings, 1590 — Rebuilding 
of the monastery, 1619 — Its importance and influence to-day. 

We now chartered a motor-boat to convey us 
and our baggage to Vadso. The motor-yacht, 
about twenty tons, could not come nearer than 
a mile, so we had to harness the reindeer to the 
sledges and put the dingy on the runners. 

The hardy Norsemen were breaking the ice 
with iron spikes, in order to get nearer where 
the ice was thicker. Our baggage got lighter as 
our provisions became less, and taking some good 
photographs of the deer and caravan on the 
fjord, pulling the boat to get on board, we 
reached the motor-boat. The dingy was put in 
the water for safety, in case the ice should crack 
with our heavy weight, and we stepped from the 

137 



138 



THROUGH LAPLAND 



dingy into the yacht. Turning the handle of 
the motor, which was driven by heavy oil, ordi- 
nary paraffin, the captain backed out, bidding 
adieu to our party — the vappus from Enare, the 
Handelsman, and others who had come to see 
us off. 

In three hours we sailed across the Varanger- 
fjord to Vadso, and it was pleasant to see the 
steep cliffs running down to the salt water and 
to hear the seagulls again welcoming us. 

At Vadso I felt at home, as I had been there 
twice before in the winter ; in fact, it was here 
that for the first time I tried reindeer driving. 
The slopes all round are well suited for the 
sport, and many of the merchants keep reindeer 
to make up parties and drive to some bungalow 
outside the town. The Union Jack was flying 
from the Consul's house, and after lunch we 
called on Herr Eenn, of the firm of Esbensens, 
agents to the steamers. His wife and children, 
who speak English very well, were returning 
from ski-ing. 

There are good hotels here, and Vadso and 
Kirkeness may be well recommended as splen- 
did centres for ski sport and pulka driving. The 
first-class return fare from Hull or Newcastle 
costs about £12 in ordinary times, including meals 
on the steamers between England and Norway. 




BORG MESCH (SWEDISH INTERPRETER), AUTHOR, AND LAPP. 




PETCHENGA : AUTHOR AND RUSSIAN LAPLANDER. 



To face p. ISfc 



PETCHENGA 



139 



Here our Swedish interpreter, Borg Mesch, 
left us, as he could not speak Eussian; we 
engaged a young Eussian at Kirkeness who 
spoke English, for we were now going into 
Eussian territory. My faithful Lapp, Johann 
Thiirri, came with me to interpret the Lappish 
language, and to help in many other ways — 
valeting, driving the pulka with the baggage 
and provisions. He was also a splendid chef, 
and knew the best part of the reindeer meat 
to buy for the stew-pot. Thiirri also knew a 
good fox or wolf skin, and bought me several 
very fine blue fox-skins caught in traps by the 
Lapps. 

From Vadso we took the steamer across to 
Kirkeness, and arrived there about midnight. 
The fjord was frozen over, but the steamer 
managed to break the ice and come alongside 
the quay. Kirkeness is comparatively a new 
town, containing about five thousand inhabitants. 
Since the iron mines have been worked it has 
become a very important centre. The iron ore 
is not so rich as that of the famed iron mines 
at Kiruna, in Swedish Lapland, but is very 
valuable, and huge smelting furnaces and electric 
light power stations are put up and are being 
added to every year. 

Mr. Anker, the harbour-master, had kindly 



140 THROUGH LAPLAND 



got us rooms, and we went to a new hotel, only 
just built and without a name at that time. It 
was very restful to find a comfortable Norwegian 
bed again, after so many weeks of sleeping in 
travelling clothes on small branches and twigs 
and reindeer-skins. 

Kirkeness is well situated among many trees, 
and it must be lovely in the summer, when 
myriads of birds arrive from the South. The 
railway to the mines is the most northerly in 
the world, and is well laid. 

We now had to make arrangements to go to 
Petchenga and on to Kola, Kandalaks, and Arch- 
angel. It was a long journey, taking the mail 
two or three weeks with two and four rein- 
deer. Mr. Anker introduced us to a very 
intelligent young Eussian from Archangel, who 
made all the arrangements for the journey to 
Svanvik, on the Pasvikelf Eiver, and over the 
high Petchenga mountain fjeld to the monastery 
in Eussian Lapland. 

The first part of the way we were able to take 
horse sledges as far as Strand, and stopped at an 
excellent farmhouse kept by a Norwegian. Here, 
close to the Eussian frontier, was a very good 
Norwegian school, and there were many houses 
and farms on the Langfjord. The next day 
we crossed the great Pasvikelf Eiver, noted for 



PETCHENGA 



its flax (Talmar), and got reindeer and a good 
Kussian Lapp vappus at Skolteby village. 

Everything was now changed, for we were in 
the great Russian Empire. The language, faces, 
dress, manners, customs, and religion were all 
Russian. Ikons were hanging on the walls and 
samovars steaming on the tables. As there was 
no hay here for the horses, the driver brought 
with him from Strand two or three large loaves 
of bread, which he broke into chunks — food much 
appreciated by the horses. 

On our way to Skolteby we met a Russian 
Lapp with a curious head-dress of fur behind his 
cap that looked like a wig and came down on 
both sides of his face. He was driving a sledge 
with four reindeer harnessed, and carrying a 
long pole. 

At Skolteby the pine woods were very pretty 
with heavy snow on the trees, hundreds of ryper, 
quite tame in their white winter plumage, flying 
about and making a calling sound like that of 
grouse. In England we call them ptarmigan, 
and they are very good eating. 

The road or winterway was excellent, and en 
route we met the Russian Lensman, who lives 
at Kola He was, in a sledge 1 drawn by two rein- 
deer. The vehicle looked like a cradle or bath- 

1 Kereshia. 



142 THROUGH LAPLAND 



chair without wheels put in a sledge. He was 
making cigarettes, and gave us some, but as we 
could not speak Eussian, we could only ex- 
change cards. 

We were ascending all the way, and found the 
cold very intense over the Petchenga fjeld. The 
vappus put on an extra reindeer to my pulka, 
and gave me a long pole to touch any member 
of the team that got slack and was not pulling. 
At the top we rested and fed the reindeer with 
very rich yellow moss. The views of the 
mountains round were very fine. The evening 
was bright and clear, and, reharnessing the deer, 
we started for the descent the other side. We 
were above the snow-line, and there was nothing 
to see but smooth, firm snow. The velocity 
downhill was very great, and the deer galloped 
all the way. At eleven o'clock at night we 
reached the Petchenga Eiver and the village of 
Shalapin. We were not very far from the 
monastery, and moved on there. We soon saw 
the group of splendid buildings, with the church 
standing out conspicuously among them. Our 
vappus knew the way well, and made straight 
for the guest-house. 

It was past midnight, and all was quiet, but, 
ringing a bell, we soon awoke one of the monks, 
and he immediately got up and showed us our 



PETCHENGA 



143 



room. It had been very cold travelling, and on 
entering the corridor we found there warm 
welcome ; like all Kussian houses, it was 
heated, and every room had the same comfort- 
able temperature. Our guide brought us a 
splendid samovar — a sort of tea urn with a red- 
hot iron in the centre to keep the water warm 
— and also bread and butter and some tea and 
milk. We had a few of our own provisions 
ready, and after a light meal turned in, quite 
ready for repose. 

The next day was the Sabbath, and at 5 a.m. 
the bells of the monastery rang for church. We 
immediately dressed, and, looking out, saw the 
monks going to prayers in their black gowns 
and black craped hats. Entering the church, 
which is Greek, a fine choir of men and boys 
was singing. It was most effective. The church 
was lit up with hundreds of lamps and candles. 
The priests came and threw incense on to the 
different ikons, and the congregation, the ser- 
vants and others belonging to the monastery, 
were bowing and almost touching the floor with 
their heads as the service continued. There is 
no organ in the Kussian church, or seats to sit 
down upon. The singing without the organ 
and the deep bass voices of the choir were very 
beautiful. The paintings in silver frames were 



144 



THROUGH LAPLAND 



very fine. There were many silver ikons and 
paintings of the apostles and the Virgin Mary, 

After service we returned to our guest-house, 
where we had large rooms and comfortable beds, 
and here we had breakfast. The monastery looks 
like a military drill-ground, as the buildings are 
far from each other and are isolated in case of 
fire. Church services went on all day, and we 
attended again at eleven o'clock and also at 
vespers at 4 p.m. We could not, however, 
understand a word. 

After breakfast one of the priests took us 
round, and we got a Lapp to tell Thurri what 
everything was, and he spoke in Swedish. The 
cells of the monks, their dining-hall, carpenter- 
ing and boot-making, a large store where nearly 
everything could be purchased, horses, stables, 
and cowsheds, were all under the charge of 
different brethren. 

The houses are built of whole trees and logs 
placed one above the other. The Handelsman 
had a great many Samoyeds's leggings, caps, 
fur coats, and skins of animals, and we made 
several purchases, among them several skins, 
and ladies' boots made of beautiful green cloth 
going high up the leg. No one spoke a word 
of English, French, or German. 

Our midday meal consisted of fish soup, 



AUTHOR AND STAFF OF PETCHENGA MONASTERY. 




PETCHENGA 



145 



macaroni and milk, sour milk, salmon (lax), 
and eggs, and was beautifully served. 

Outside stood the church with its gold cross, 
blue domes, green steeple, and light blue 
windows. It was most picturesque, with the 
snow on the roofs and round it a cemetery 
with bodies of monks buried without names. 
Summerhouses and wooden bridges across the 
snow valleys appeared in the background. 

The Archimandrite Jonathan sent a messenger 
and said he would like to see us ; we were 
very pleased to make his acquaintance, and he 
asked me to write something in his book. He 
also presented me with an interesting brochure 
in Eussian on the monastery of St. Tryphon, 
from which the following account is derived : — 

The Petchenga monastery was erected on the 
Varangersky Gulf in the sixteenth century by 
St. Tryphon, the enlightener of the Laplanders. 
Generally known as Mitrofan, St. Tryphon was 
the son of a priest who lived near the town of 
Torjk, in the district of Novgorod. 1 Through 
the influence of his parents, Tryphon was re- 
ligious even in his youth. They taught him to 
read, and he became a close student of the Holy 
Scriptures, frequently visiting the church and 
always trying to be first at divine service. 
1 At present under the Government of Tversk. 
11 



146 THROUGH LAPLAND 



Thus the holy seed fell on good ground. Try- 
phon took a great liking to a hermit's life, 
though as yet ignorant of its sacred mysteries. 
In the meantime he began to absent himself 
occasionally from home, to go and pray in 
secluded, inaccessible places. His parents tried 
to prevent these expeditions, but a fire of re- 
ligious ardour was already burning in Tryphon's 
heart, and he remained inexorable to their 
entreaties. 

During one of these retirements Tryphon heard 
a voice, saying : " Go into an unpopulated, in- 
accessible country, into a thirsty land, where no 
man yet lived, 1 as by Grace I have recollected 
My people, and the love of My betrothal will 
•not fail." From that time Tryphon became more 
devout. He was greatly concerned as to the 
meaning of the words u a thirsty and inaccessible 
land." He decided that they did not refer to 
one particular country, but to pagan nations, 
thirsty for evangelical doctrine, and with this 
thought he left his home in order to preach 
God's truth wherever the Lord might lead 
him. 

Urged by this vision, Tryphon went northwards 
to the shores of the Northern Ocean, to the Kola 
district, where Laplanders who long ago had be- 

1 I.e. where there was as yet no preacher of God's word. 



PETCHENGA 



147 



longed to the Novgorod Government lived. How 
and with whom he came there is unknown. In this 
rough country he felt, it appears, lonely, but did 
not lose heart, and zealously began to preach the 
GospeL The preacher of Christ had a very diffi- 
cult task before him among these ignorant 
idolaters, for he was without means, and without 
any help and protection against the wickedness 
of the pagans. He first came into communica- 
tion with the Laplanders on the banks of the 
Kiver Petchenga under the pretext of commercial 
business. While watching their mode of life 
and habits he began to preach Christianity. 

Having no fixed abode, Tryphon moved from 
one place to another, wherever there were Lap- 

I 

landers. Living a lonely life among them and 
seeing their gross superstition, he felt sorry for 
these people, and was fired with zeal to convert 
them to Christianity. 

The dwellings of the Laplanders were scattered 
in the marshes, which were almost impassable, 
and at long distances from each other. The 
difficulty of Tryphon's exploit was made still 
greater by the fact that the whole tribe of 
the Laplanders suffered greatly in olden times 
from gangs of robbers, and they could only 
protect themselves by cunning and knowledge 
of the locality, or by hiding in the ground 



148 THROUGH LAPLAND 



in holes with coniform roofs of wood, stone, or 
turf, i 

Showing them their mistake, Tryphon taught 
the Laplanders to serve the true God ; he related 
to them the history of the salvation of the 
human race and directed them to live a pure 
life. But "it is not easy to lead a stupefied 
mind to the paths of light and truth. It is still 
more difficult to compel a heart to break off 
connections with habits, delusions, with acquired 
attachments and with ingrain passions." The 
Laplanders received Christian teaching with great 
difficulty, especially the Kebuns, their religious 
chiefs, who started a quarrel with Tryphon and 
incited the Laplanders against him ; they even 
threatened him with death if he would not leave 
their district. Tryphon, giving way to anger, 
concealed himself for a time in the hills, and 
then again began to preach Christianity to the 
Laplanders. But they, incited by the Kebuns, 
replied to his preaching with blows, dragged him 
about by the hair, took him overnight to bear 
haunts, and mixed dirt and herbs with his food. 

1 Bemnants of such holes are still found in southern 
Varanger and northern Finland, and also in the Govern- 
ment of Vologda, near Velsk and Nikolsk, where they are 
known as Tohoods' graves. Many indications are to be 
found in legends of the Laplanders as to their sufferings 
in those times. 



PETCHENGA 



149 



But the true ascetic of Christ endured all this 
with humility and hope of God's help, and finally 
his gentleness triumphed. His gentle, humble 
bearing softened the hearts of some of them, 
though others spoke maliciously to the preacher 
of Christ. Little by little the evangelical work 
of Tryphon prevailed — even the worst of the 
Laplanders ceased their hostile actions, finding 
no more excuses for threatening Tryphon, and 
the teaching of eternal life attracted them. 

After twenty years of hard work a good many 
of the pagans began to believe in the true God, 
and were even ready to receive holy baptism. 
Tryphon, not being in holy orders, had to go to 
Novgorod to solicit the Archbishop for permission 
to build a church, and that a priest might be 
appointed to it, so that the converts might have 
the opportunity of receiving holy baptism. 

Having obtained the necessary permission from 
Archbishop Makary, St. Tryphon returned to 
Petchenga, bringing builders with him. Together 
with them he worked on the building of the 
temple in the name of the Holy Trinity. He 
carried on his shoulders logs of wood for the 
new church for over two miles ; working by day, 
he spent the nights in prayer and did not cease 
to instruct the newly converted in religion. The 
church so built remained for three years uncon- 



150 THROUGH LAPLAND 



secrated and without a priest, and the converted 
Laplanders without holy baptism. Then Tryphon 
left for Kola, and there he accidentally met the 
priest Iliey, whom he persuaded to come with 
him to the River Petchenga. The burning wish 
of Tryphon was realized : the church was conse- 
crated, the converted Laplanders were baptized, 
and he himself, being a long time a friar at 
heart, assumed the cowl — this was on the 
1st February 1533. This was the beginning of 
the Petchenga monastery. 

The work of Tryphon became still heavier, for 
to the teaching of evangelical doctrine was added 
the labour of erecting a monastery. The first 
to lead a monastic life were the newly en- 
lightened Laplanders, who showed their goodwill 
and love for Tryphon by offerings of money and 
land. Feodorit, the priest of the Solovetsky 
monastery, who worked hard to enlighten the 
Laplanders in the south-east part of the Kola 
peninsula, helped Tryphon in the evangelical 
work and in the building of the new cloister. 

But scarcely was the monastical community 
formed at the lonely church of the Holy Trinity 
on the River Petchenga, when a great famine 
struck the northern district. For several years 
the frosts killed all grain and vegetables; Try- 
phon worked, ^hard^ to become the nourisher of 



PETCHENGA 



151 



those who entrusted their souls to him. Taking 
with him some of the brethren, he visited the 
extensive Novgorod district, humbly solicited 
alms, and used them to feed the friars and the 
Christian Laplanders. This continued for eight 
years. 

After his return from Novgorod, and having 
arranged the affairs of the cloister, Tryphon, 
together with Feodorit, undertook a new journey 
to Moscow, where they were received by the 
Tsar Ivan Vasilievitch. The day before they 
arrived at Moscow the Tsar went to say Mass ; 
it was the day of the Assumption of the Holy 
Virgin. He caught sight of two monks as in 
a vision. "Who are you?" asked the Tsar. 
They replied, 6t One is from the Solovetsky 
monastery ; the other, from the Kolsky district, 
is the head of the evangelical teaching to the 
Laplanders and the builder of the church of the 
Holy Trinity on the Eiver Petchenga, the humble 
Tryphon " — whereupon they immediately became 
invisible. The Boyards heard the words of the 
Tsar, but did not see the monks, and did not 
dare to ask the Tsar to whom he was talking. 
On the following day the Tsar again went with 
the Tsarevitch, Fedor Joannovitch, to say Mass, 
and he again saw, but this time actually and 
not in a vision, Tryphon and Feodorit, who sub- 



152 THROUGH LAPLAND 



mitted their petitions. The Tsar, having read 
the petitions, said : " I saw you yesterday, now 
I am going to say Mass," and entered the 
Uspensky cathedral. And Fedor Joannovitch, 
entering the porch, took of! his rich robe and 
sent it to Tryphon, saying : " Let my offering 
precede those of the Tsar, but you can make 
this garment into a holy one, as I see in thee 
a righteous man." Tryphon accepted the gift with 
deep gratitude, and having kissed the Tsarevitch, 
said prayers for the donor. After the Mass, the 
Tsar examined the business of the monks, and 
having learned that the Boyards had not seen 
the monks the previous day, ordered them to be 
brought to him. But when the monks assured 
them all that on the day of the Assumption 
they had not arrived in Moscow, all understood 
that a miracle had happened, and the Tsar, filled 
with love for Tryphon, made a handsome gift to 
the Petchenga monastery. 

Eeturning to the monastery, Tryphon brought 
joy and comfort. The monks were now provided 
with fishing-grounds and lands. Tryphon handed 
the Tsar's decree for the use of these fisheries 
and lands, and also the alms collected from 
Christ-loving people, to his cellarer, and entered 
the names of the benefactors in the records, so 
that they might be mentioned in their prayers ; 



PETCHENGA 



153 



and he then resumed his ordinary work like the 
lowest lay brother. With the alms collected in 
Moscow he built a separate church for those who 
were newly baptized in the name of St. Boris and 
St. Glieb near the Eiver Pazreka. Such was the 
humility of Tryphon that, having obtained the 
charter from the Tsar, he wished that his name 
should not be mentioned in connection with the 
monastery he founded. 

Even in his old age he did not cease to 
work. On one occasion he bought in Kola a 
hand grindstone for corn, and carried it to the 
monastery on his shoulders, a distance of 158 
versts. It was in vain that his pupils begged 
him not to labour under such a load. 
" Brethren," he said, "a heavy burden rests 
on the sons of Adam ; how can they turn to 
mirth ? No, Tryphon, it were better for you to 
hang a millstone round your neck than to lead 
astray the brotherhood." 

One day a bear entered his cell, overturned 
the kneading trough, and began eating the 
dough, when Tryphon entered and said, " My 
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, commands you 
to leave this cell and to stand still." The bear 
went outside, and stood at the feet of the holy 
man. Thereupon the saint chastised the culprit, 
warned him never again to disturb the monas- 



154 THROUGH LAPLAND 



tery, and dismissed him. And henceforth no 
bear ever harmed the reindeer or any other 
living being belonging to the monastery. 

In his latter years the holy man frequently 
retired to his hermitage, where he built a church 
in honour and memory of the Assumption of the 
Holy Virgin and passed his days in prayer. He 
also ordained that he should be buried in this 
hermitage. 

In this manner, performing many noble actions 
and doing much work, he reached a venerable 
age; and after living for seventy years in this 
most desolate of wildernesses, as related by the 

7 1/ 

local contemporary ecclesiastical historians, he 
at last fell dangerously ill. To Tryphon came 
Abbot Gouri and the brothers who had been his 
pupils, and seeing him so seriously ill, they be- 
moaned deeply that they should be bereft of 
such a noble teacher and be left orphans. 

"Do not grieve, brethren," said the holy 
man, " and do not interrupt the even flow of 
my tide. Put all your trust in the Lord, 
because if the Lord my God Jesus did not 
abandon me, then so much the less will He 
desert you, who are gathered together in His 
holy Name. But I commend you to love God 
glorified in the Holy Trinity with all your heart 
and the whole of your soul, and to love one 



PETCHENGA 



155 



another ; my children, preserve your brotherhood 
in continence and honesty, and keep away from 
the love of power. You have known me for 
many years ; and you have seen with your own 
eyes that my hands have worked not only for 
my own, but also for your needs, and that I 
was a lay brother to all of you. I entreat you, 
do not grieve when I have departed this life, 
because such is the lot of every man; and even 
if the body goes to dust, yet the soul rises to 
heaven. Struggle onwards to where death is 
not, where shines eternal light, and one day is 
more than a thousand ; and love not the cursed 
world, false and troubled like the sea, and frothy 
with sinful waves. But when my soul has left 
this body, I enjoin you to bury me by the 
Church of the Assumption of the Holy Virgin 
in the hermitage, where I often used to go to 
turn my thoughts to God in silence." 

Having uttered these words, Tryphon raised 
himself from his poor mat of rushes, and sat up 
so as to partake of the Blessed Body and Holy 
Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ; and then he 
broke down and suddenly burst into tears. The 
abbot asked him : " Holy Father, you forbid us to 
grieve for you because you joyfully go to your 
Lord Jesus; tell us, then, why do you shed 
tears?" And the holy man replied: "A heavy 



156 THROUGH LAPLAND 



trial awaits this monastery, and many will suffer 
martyrdom from the edge of the sword; but do 
not, my brethren, become feeble in your trust in 
God; He will not leave the sinners unpunished, 
because He is powerful, and He will once more 
build up His monastery." Then he lay down 
again upon his mat and his face became serene ; 
and as he was dying a smile passed over his 
features, and then he gave up his soul to the 
Lord. He was ninety-eight years old, and the 
date of his death was the 15th December 1583. 
His saintly remains were interred where he had 
wished, in the hermitage by the Church of the 
Assumption of the Holy Virgin. 

Tryphon was of low stature, bent, and some- 
what bald-headed, and wore a long grey beard. 

Seven years after the death of the saint, Tsar 
Fedor Joannovitch besieged Narva. The be- 
sieged Swedes directed their guns at dawn 
towards the tent of the Tsar, where he was 
still lying asleep. And there appeared to him in 
his sleep a noble aged man in the garments of 
a monk, who said : " Arise, sire ; leave the tent 
so that you shall escape death." " Who are 
you?" "I am the same Tryphon to whom 
you gave your mantle, so that your benevolence 
should outstrip the others. The Lord my God 
sent me unto you." The Tsar awoke, and had 



PETCHENGA 



157 



scarcely left the tent when a cannon-ball 
pierced it and struck the bed. The pious 
monarch was deeply moved by this act of God's 
mercy, and sent a messenger to the Petchenga 
monastery to find Tryphon, but the reply came 
that he had died seven years before, and the 
Tsar thereupon conferred many gifts upon the 
monastery. 

After the death of Tryphon the fate of the 
monastery which he had founded became a very 
sad one. His prophetic saying that many of 
the brethren would suffer by the sword was 
literally fulfilled in seven years. In 1590, a 
week before Christmas, a band of Swedes burnt 
the church where the bones of Tryphon rested. 
They also tortured to death the monk Jonas 
and the monk Herman, and then hid them- 
selves in ambush. On Christmas Day they 
broke into the monastery of the Holy Trinity, 
and with brutal cruelty began putting to death 
the monks and laymen, who were celebrating 
the Holy Liturgy in the church ; some they 
cut in two crosswise, others they cleaved in 
half lengthwise, and of others they cut off their 
arms and legs. Abbot Gouri and other priest 
monks they tortured in various ways. They 
pierced them with their weapons or roasted 
them over the fire to extort from them where 



158 THROUGH LAPLAND 



the riches of the monastery were hidden ; but 
the sufferers underwent all these tortures in 
silence, and the infuriated Swedes at last hewed 
them to pieces. Having secured all the plunder 
they could, they set fire to the church and all 
the buildings of the monastery. In all, fifty-one 
monks and sixty-five laymen and workmen 
perished ; only those survived who were absent 
in the service of the monastery. On their 
return they buried the murdered victims with 
all honours. The remains of the martyrs now 
rest in one grave, close to the spot where 
once stood the Trinity Church and the old 
monastery. 

The coast Laplanders preserve the following 
tradition of the wicked massacre of the brother- 
hood : — 

It was Christmastide ; the sun had seemingly gone down 
earlier than usual this year, 1 and the state of the air in- 
creased the darkness of the heavens. A mist was continually 
hovering over the earth, and the fog was so dense that at 
five paces distance you could not see the light in a Lap- 
lander's tent. The evil spirit was abroad in the land, which 
the light of God had forsaken ; and he led people into every 
wickedness, and aided them in their evil deeds. On the sea- 
shore, a day's journey from Petchenga, a nomadic Lap- 
lander, owner of a herd of reindeer, pitched his tent. They 
called him Ivan, and he had been baptized by Tryphon 



1 1590. 



PETCHENGA 



159 



himself ; but he became a Christian merely because he 
expected presents, and now that he received none he was 
filled with spite against St. Tryphon and against God Him- 
self, and resumed his heathenish life. And God had visibly 
forsaken him. That year the frost hardened the snow, and 
his reindeer were dying daily from want of food; so his 
herd melted away like ice melts in the sun at summer-time. 

Ivan became furious with anger, and tried to think of 
some way to make good his losses. Long and deep were 
his thoughts, and at last he harnessed his sledge and drove 
into Norway, to a place where he knew that pirates lived 
during the winter. He proposed to lead them to the 
Petchenga monastery that they might plunder it, and great 
were the rejoicings of the robbers. They had had eyes on 
the monastery for a long time, but were afraid to do the 
deed, and did not know the way to it. Their chieftain 
promised Ivan fifty silver coins in Swedish money, and 
gave him twenty in advance. The robbers armed them- 
selves, harnessed a whole train of sledges, and started off. 
They reached the monastery on Christmas Day. About a 
couple of hours before their arrival fifty-one members of the 
brotherhood and sixty-five lay brothers had sat down at 
their tables in the dining-hall after Mass, and the Father 
Superior, before blessing the victuals, took up the Holy 
Book, and had just opened it to read the lesson where he 
had left his book-mark, when he paled, began to reel, and 
fell to the ground. The brethren thought that he had 
fainted through fasting, and one of them hurried to raise 
him from the ground. The brother commenced to read in 
his stead, when with a shriek he covered his face in terror. 
All rose, and saw witb horror that where the Father 
Superior's book-mark was, letters written with blood gave a 
list of those who had been recently murdered; and then 
followed a list of their own names, beginning with that of 
the Father Superior. All was confusion and weeping, but 



160 THROUGH LAPLAND 



the Father Superior firmly ordered all to go into the church, 
and there, with the whole brotherhood, he knelt before the 
holy images. 

Meanwhile the robbers had approached, and while some 
tried to force the doors of the holy temple, others sur- 
rounded the wooden monastery and set fire to it on all 
side3. One of the monks was a powerful giant who had 
been a warrior ; and seeing through the windows only fifty 
robbers, he begged the Father Superior to bless him and 
others of the youngest and strongest monks, so that they 
might defend the monastery with their axes and crowbars. 
But the Father Superior replied : — 

" No, it is the will of God, as foretold by the holy 
Tryphon, although he said not when ; and therefore we 
must not go against His will, but must without murmuring 
prepare to win the crown of martyrdom." 

After these words the brotherhood calmed down and 
became silent. They kneeled before the altar in fervent 
prayer, and at that moment the robbers rushed in ; but not 
one of the monks moved or answered their inquiries regard- 
ing the riches and valuables of the monastery. The robbers 
were infuriated, and all the monks suffered a martyr's death 
without even raising their heads and with prayers still linger- 
ing on their lips. Having killed them all, the robbers rushed 
off to search for booty, to rob the church plate, and to 
plunder the monastery; but they found very little, because 
the monks, leading a frugal and pious life, never troubled 
to amass worldly riches. Meanwhile the fire was engulfing 
the whole of the monastery, and the robbers ascended a 
rock near, where they divided the spoil. A sacred cup of 
silver fell to the share of Ivan, who hid it under his gar- 
ment, trembling with greed. 

Standing on the rock, the robbers were waiting for the 
moment when the church would be caught by the flames ; 
bat although the fire was raging all round, it did not touch 



PETCHENGA 



161 



the wooden church. Suddenly in the sky, above the flam- 
ing monastery, appeared three snow-white swans. The 
robbers were perplexed, and asked each other wonderingly : 
" Whence come these swans ? It is winter now, and they 
never were here in winter before." Meanwhile the swans, 
without leaving the spot over the fire, soared higher and 
higher in the air; and then suddenly dissolved into a 
golden circle, shining brighter than the fire. Then fluttered 
upwards out of the fire, one after another, 116 birds white 
as snow, of the size of a sea-gull ; and they, rising high 
up, in their turn dissolved in the golden ring, which widened 
and shone so brilliantly as to dazzle the eyes. 

" See what a grievous sin we have committed in spilling 
righteous blood!" exclaimed the chieftain, awe-stricken; 
and, with their guide, they rushed down the hill to their 
sledges, and wildly started their reindeer. On and on they 
drove, quite exhausting their reindeer, and towards morning 
they were crossing into Norway. Ivan, distrusting the 
pirates, and in fear of their robbing him, was being carried 
some fifty paces ahead by a powerful bull reindeer; and 
behind him followed the train of sledges with the robbers 
and their plunder. Suddenly, at the steepest spot the 
hindmost reindeer stumbled, and with the sledge and its 
driver bounded over the edge down into the abyss, dragging 
with them the other sledges and their occupants, fastened 
to each other by straps ; desperate shrieks of terror for a 
moment filled the air, and with hellish laughter the evil 
fiend answered from the depths of the abyss, mocked by 
the echoes of the hills in loud and endless repetition. 
Shuddering, Ivan looked back and saw that all the robbers 
had disappeared; he turned his reindeer and rushed back, 
but the animal was mad with terror : its hair stood on 
end ; it pressed its horns flat on its back, and, disregarding 
its master's lead, jumped aside, and losing its footing on 
the same spot, bounded into space. 

12 



162 THROUGH LAPLAND 



Endless seemed the flight through air, until at last Ivan 
fell on something soft. The north light was shining in the 
sky, and by it he saw that he was lying on a heap of his 
crushed and blood-stained companions ; beneath him they 
moved their hands and feet, lifting their heads and begging 
for help ; and all around was a herd of wolves tearing 
their living flesh and greedily drinking their life-blood. In 
their greed the nearest wolves threw themselves upon 
Ivan's still living reindeer. With the strength of maddening 
desperation he unsheathed his knife, and striking back the 
attacking wolves, rushed headlong through the gorge. Far 
did he run, and at last reached the tundra; around was the 
forest, and in the middle, a glade with a copious spring 
rising high and pouring from the earth's depths. Ivan 
rejoiced, and, parched with thirst, drew forth the mon- 
astery's silver cup, filled it with water, and greedily 
carried it to his lips ; but the water was warm and red. 
He tasted it — it was blood. Terrified, he threw the cup 
into the pool of the spring ; but it would not sink — it floated 
upright on the water and shone like fire, and inside the 
cup the blood was shining like rubies. His hair stood on 
end, his eyes protruded from his head ; the traitorous Judas 
tried to make the sign of the cross, but his arm would 
not move and hung down like a lash. Then a column of 
water rose up from the pool and carried the cup up 
towards heaven. Like a sun the sacred cup was shining on 
high ; all around it suddenly changed to a bright summer's 
day, and the Lord Himself stretched forth His right hand 
and took the cup to His holy bosom. Once more all was 
darkness, suddenly all had turned to black night : with a 
roar the column of water, which had reached to heaven, 
rushed down, seized the half-dead Ivan, and in its whirlpool 
dragged him down to abysmal depths. 

To this day, they say in Norway, somewhere beyond the 
Varanger fjord there is a bottomless lake, the water of 



PETCHENGA 



163 



which is of a reddish colour. No living being — man or 
reindeer — drinks this water; and from the middle of 
the lake a large yellow stone rises up, shaped like a 
cup. No fish live in its waters, and no birds live on 
the lake ; it does not freeze in the winter, but once a year, 
on Christmas Day, three swans white as snow fly to it, 
and, swimming across its waters, sit on the stone ; then 
they rise aloft and disappear from view. 

The destruction of the Petchenga monastery 
occurred in the reign of Fedor Joannovitch, 
during his war against the Swedes. On hearing 
the news, the pious Tsar was deeply moved, and 
gave orders that, for the sake of greater security, 
the monastery should be transferred to Kola, 
within the palisades, and attached to the Church 
of the Annunciation of the Holy Virgin. After 
the destruction by fire of the town of Kola and 
the monastery, a new one was built in the reign 
of Michael Fedorovitch, in 1619, near Kola, 
on the banks of the river of the same name; 
and at a later date it was named the New Kola 
Monastery by ukase of the Emperor Peter I. 
In 1701 the monastery was attached to the pre- 
lacy, and finally, in 1764, during the reign of 
the Empress Catherine II, it was merged into 
the Kola cathedral, and thus ended its existence. 

The reader will ask: " "What has now become 
of the scenes of Tryphon's deeds ?" The prophecy 
of the holy man has been fulfilled with literal 



164 THROUGH LAPLAND 



exactitude. The Petchenga monastery has been 
restored. 

In 1824 and 1867 efforts were made by the 
Solovetzky monks to settle on the ashes of the 
burnt monastery of Petchenga, near the tomb 
of the 116 martyrs, but they were not crowned 
with success; it was evident that the time had 
not yet arrived which the Almighty in His 
wisdom had appointed for rebuilding it. But 
from 1869 emigrants from the seashore began 
to settle on the ruins of the old monastery ; and 
having settled there, became full owners of the 
land. In 1878 the wish arose amongst the 
admirers of Tryphon to rebuild the Petchenga 
monastery. On the 15th December 1883, the 
three-hundredth anniversary of the death of 
Tryphon was solemnly celebrated throughout the 
entire Government of Archangel; and from that 
time the desire to rebuild the Petchenga monas- 
tery became stronger, and the Holy Synod, after 
investigating the matter in 1886, charged the 
Solovetzky monastery with the restoration. 

A small band of Solovetzky monks, numbering 
eleven men, obediently following this call, set 
out with the blessings and prayers of their own 
monastery. Supplied with all ecclesiastical 
necessaries, books, tools, and means of living, 
they arrived on the 16th July 1886 at their 



PETCHENGA 



165 



destination in the " desolate wilderness," as the 
ancient historian terms Lapland. 

It was decided to build the monastery on the 
spot where St. Tryphon died, and where the 
hermitage of the Assumption of the Holy Virgin 
once stood. The Solovetzky brotherhood on 
their arrival found the ancient Church of the 
Purification of the Holy Virgin, a clerical house 
of the same date, and two Laplanders' huts. 
In October of the same year they laid the 
foundation for a building containing ten cells. 
In July 1887 all the brotherhood were already 
installed in their new buildings. The dilapidated 
wooden church, built in 1707 and containing 
only one altar and no stove or ceiling, was re- 
paired as far as possible before other buildings 
were started. That church could with difficulty 
hold forty people. 

Ten years after the restoration of the monastery 
of St. Tryphon was begun, on the 16th July 1896, 
the wilderness had become a flourishing spot. 
A new, large, and spacious church has been 
built of timber, with three altars, decorated inside 
with much care, and richly provided with all 
church utensils and with a sacristy. A parish 
church school, supported by monastery funds, 
has been opened, where twenty boys are taught ; 
workshops are established for carpentering, carv- 



166 THROUGH LAPLAND 



ing, gilding, for locksmiths, fishing-net makers, 
and joiners, just like a monastery of old standing. 
Nineteen dwelling-houses and sixteen other 
buildings have been erected ; a large farmyard 
is established; the land has been cleared for 
meadows yielding 5,000 poods of hay ; gardening 
has been introduced ; a good road to the sea 
has been made, 25 versts long ; swamps have 
been dried, and the land levelled. In addition 
to this work and their devotional exercises, the 
monks of the restored Petchenga monastery, now 
120 in number, have also to continue the 
missionary work of St. Tryphon in the Northern 
Province. It is to be the bulwark of the Orthodox 
Faith against any possible invasion of the teach- 
ings of another faith into Eussian territory from 
the direction of the Norwegian frontier. 

The monastery of St. Tryphon already exercises 
a beneficent influence upon the dwellers in the 
vast desolate country of the far North, the 
nomadic Laplanders; it will be to them the 
same shining torch as it was during the life- 
time of its founder, in whose sanctity they firmly 
believe. Even now they, like the inhabitants 
of the colonies and the citizens of the town of 
Kola, frequently and fervently visit the monastery, 
but more especially on those days when the 
memory of St. Tryphon is celebrated, and when 



PETCHENGA 



167 



about five hundred congregate and stay in the 
monastery some three days. Undeniably it has 
a beneficial influence upon these inhabitants of 
the tundras, these children of nature, impression- 
able as they naturally are, when on entering the 
church they see its beautiful decorations, the 
lighted lamps, the assembly of priests in their 
brilliant vestments, and hear the harmonious 
singing and clear reading. All this engenders 
in their breasts an unspeakable joy, and leaves 
pleasant memories in their minds. The hearty 
welcome tendered to the pious Laplanders, the 
comfortable accommodation and abundant meals 
provided for them during these three days, the 
distribution of pictures representing the monas- 
tery, of small crosses and holy images and 
pamphlets, all tend to attract them to the 
monastery. They take a great delight in telling 
their families and neighbours of all they have 
seen. But, better than all, they carry away with 
them a firm and deep belief; the knowledge 
that they are the children of the one great and 
holy Orthodox Church, and that they are also 
sons of the great and powerful Empire of Eussia. 

The foundation of the new church is laid on 
the site of the ancient monastery, close to the 
tomb of the 116 martyrs, and the colonists who 
had settled there are being transferred at the 



168 THROUGH LAPLAND 

expense of the monastery to another place. It 
is also proposed, and already decreed by the 
Holy Synod, to erect a monastery here 16 
versts nearer the sea, and then the present 
monastery will become the hermitage. In this 
manner a fresh field is opened for the labours 
of the monks and for the benevolence of the pious. 

The neighbouring Norwegians take a great 
and increasing interest in the monastery, which 
for them is typically representative of everything 
Russian. In summer they arrive by steamer, 
in winter with reindeer. Guests of other religions 
when staying at the monastery attend the 
church services, and between the hours of 
service visit and inspect the house and the 
library, and make excursions in the neighbour- 
hood. The crowd of departing pilgrims of various 
nationalities forms a lively sight ; among them 
may be seen a Russian, a settler, a Laplander 
clad in reindeer skins, a Finn and a Norwegian, 
in native costume with a square blue cap, made 
of velvet or cloth, resembling a Russian driver's 
cap, a short blue or red embroidered skirt and 
a fur collar round the neck. 

Each of the chiefs of the Government of 
Archangel, while on the Murman on a tour of 
inspection to the far northern lands, has visited 
the monastery. 



CHAPTEE VI 



THE MUKMAN COAST AND THE KOLA PENINSULA 

Extent and physical features — Early history — Inhabitants — Climate 
— Birds and fishes — Possibilities for colonizing the Murman 
Coast — Basin of the Paza River — Population — Ways of life — 
Communications with Petrograd — Report of Russian Minister. 

The name of St. Tryphon of Petchenga leads 
the thoughts to the far Eussian North, to the 
shores of the Arctic Ocean, to the Eiver Petch- 
enga in Western Lapland, which was the scene 
of the saint's labours more than three cen- 
turies ago. As we have seen, there he toiled 
for many decades, instructing the Laplanders in 
the teaching of Jesus Christ, building a monas- 
tery, and thus raising the desert to a position 
of dignity. Life and conditions in the Kola 
peninsula, where St. Tryphon lived and worked, 
are now, as they were in his day, closely bound 
up with the existence of the Tryphon-Petchenga 
monastery. For, notwithstanding its admirable 
fisheries, its wonderful and varied bird life in 

169 



170 THROUGH LAPLAND 



summer, from the moment of the destruction 
of the Petchenga monastery in 1590, the in- 
habitants, as well as the borderland of the 
far Russian North, were forgotten, most people 
imagining it to be a barren and forbidding 
region. 

The Kola 1 peninsula extends east and west 
about 450 miles, and north and south about 275, 
and is situated between 69*5 and 66*3 North lati- 
tude and 28*5 and 41*2 East longitude. On the 
north-west it stretches from the Norwegian fron- 
tier (Rivers Voriema, Paza, and Lake Tchalmo); 
on the north and north-east along the Arctic 
Ocean ; along the banks of the White Sea from 
south-east and south ; from the south-west up 
to the frontier of the Kemsky district, and from 
the west reaches the frontiers of the Uleaborg 
Government. This huge area, consisting of about 
a quarter of the whole of the Archangel Govern- 
ment, includes the Kola and Lapland peninsulas. 

The present frontiers of Russia and Norway 
have existed since the year 1826. It is suffi- 
cient to glance at the map of Var anger Bay 
in order to see that the whole southern part of 
it was originally a Russian possession. Places 
with such names as Tchervianna, Khliebna, 
Veress, Niavdema, Outinga, Kossaya, Veress, 

1 Now the Alexandrovsky district. 



THE MURMAN COAST 171 



Tchelemess, Shalim, and Stanovistche Shankino 
could not have been Norwegian possessions. 
The whole of the south-western coast of Var- 
anger Bay now belongs to Norway. Besides, 
the Eussian possessions do not begin at the 
gulf of the Eiver Paza; the Eussian Imperial 
frontier with Norway, drawn in 1826, approaching 
the ocean from the mouth of the Eiver Pass, 
bends steeply towards south-east to the Eiver 
Voriema, and then goes along that river to the 
sea. Thus the Norwegians had, besides a huge 
territory between the Eivers Pass, Tanoy, and 
Paes, in spite of the natural frontier, also a large 
territory with good ports in Yaranger Bay. It 
is difficult to explain, at the present time, the 
melancholy fact of making such a frontier between 
Norway and Eussia. It would not be far wrong 
to suppose that the Norwegians, who were w T ell 
acquainted with Lapland, purposely took advan- 
tage of the ignorance of the Eussian plenipo- 
tentiary, Colonel Galiamin, who arrived from a 
very far country and made the frontier the Eiver 
Paz, instead of Paess ; it is very likely that, in 
this respect, the similarity of the names of the 
two rivers helped the Norwegians. 

Eegarding the work of Galiamin, the Kola land 
court made the following report in the year 1828 
to the Archangel Government Administration : 



172 THROUGH LAPLAND 



On arrival in this year of the Kola Police In- 
spector Krivkovitch at the old frontier, the 
Laplanders of the Niavdenisky and Pazretsky 
villages unanimously declared that they tried on 
both occasions — i.e. in 1825 and 1826 — to show 
Colonel Galiarnin the old frontier, and asked him 
to examine it thoroughly ; but Galiarnin paid no 
attention to this, and did not go further than 
the Boris and Glieb church, situated on the 
Elver Paz ; in the following year, 1826, he re- 
mained all the time in the town of Yassin, within 
the Norwegian possessions. The Government 
Administration also drew attention to the fact 
that Galiarnin did not leave any copies of the 
plans either at Kola or at Archangel. 

It is, therefore, not surprising that the 
Governor of Archangel, Mr. Bukharin, in his 
report to the Minister of the Interior, dated 
June 14, 1828, says that " The making of the 
frontier by Galiarnin was the reason why the 
Norwegians took possession by force of the Eus- 
sian fisheries." 

In a word, it resulted that the Norwegians 
received the larger and richer Eussian territory 
and the southern part of the Yaranger Bay, 
together with its fisheries, forests, and other 
natural wealth. Even more would have fallen 
into their hands had not the fact that the place 



THE MURMAN COAST 173 

on which the Tryphon-Petchenga monastery was 
built and the church on the Kiver Paz clearly 
indicated that it was Kussian territory. 

In 1572 the Petchenga monastery received an 
intimation from Moscow, from the Grand Duke, 
that His Majesty the Danish King was dissatis- 
fied with the fact that the monks had so cleverly 
built the monastery for themselves. He would 
therefore, in the spring of 1573, send boyards in 
order to examine the local conditions and to fix 
a frontier with the Norwegian kingdom. At that 
time the monks had already populated the land 
with the people belonging to the monastery and 
granted them the whole fishing rights in the 
Bay of Kilberg to the Yaranger fjords. But in 
1573 the Kussian boyards and the representa- 
tives had already examined Lapland, and the 
representatives of His Majesty the Danish King 
had not met them ; they fixed as the frontier the 
Kiver Paes, flowing into the fjord Tan, and not 
the Kiver Paz. That the territory from the 
Kiver Tan to the present frontier on the Kiver 
Paz belongs to Kussia is shown not only on the 
map issued in 1745 by the St. Petersburg 
Academy of Science, but also by documentary 
evidence, shown by Mr. XI. N Stcherbatchev in 
his work " The Danish Archive." A subse- 
quent instruction issued by the Danish King, 



174 THROUGH LAPLAND 



Christian IV, to the Danish representatives in 
Eussia stated : — 

In case of a refusal by the Russian Tsar to give up the 
whole of Lapland, a certain part, or the Petchenga monastery 
alone, the representatives must offer for the whole country 
50,000 talers (as an indemnity for the erection of the church). 
Should they refuse this, then propose the division of the land 
in dispute in two equal parts, so that the northern part should 
go to the King and the southern to the Tsar. 

Mr. M. K. SidorofT, the well-known promoter 
and expert of the North, who in 1870 accom- 
panied the Grand Duke Alexiey xilexandrovitch 
to the White Sea and the Arctic Ocean as far 
as the church of Boris and Glieb on the Eiver 
Paz, says in his Eeport on Navigation and Com- 
merce :— 

In 1617, at the time of the conclusion of peace, the Swedes 
succeeded in seizing Eussian lands up to the frontier of the 
monastery possessions, from Gondwik to Veress-Navolok. 
Subsequently they seized also the lands offered to the Pet- 
chenga monastery by John the Terrible in the year 1556 ; in 
the year 1826 they were allotted the best unfreezing bays : 
Niavdemsky, Pasretsky, and Eovdinsky, together with the 
surrounding lands, on which about one hundred Eussian 
Laplanders lived, and where a church was erected by St. 
Tryphon. 

Negotiations continued for about eighteen years 
with regard to these lands, as the title-deeds 
were not signed by the neighbouring parties. 



THE MURMAN COAST 175 



Finally, in 1844, these bays were transferred to 
Sweden and Norway on the ground that the 
local Laplanders agreed to it, while, as a matter 
of fact, the title-deeds were not signed by the 
neighbouring parties, but by other people living 
about a thousand miles away. 

The persistency with which the Norwegians 
tried to take possession of Eussian Lapland, 
from the fifteenth to the nineteenth centuries, 
although juridically settled in 1826, actually con- 
tinues now. In a report made by the Governor 
of Archangel for 1906 it was admitted that the 
influx of strangers to the Murman shores was 
so great that the local native inhabitants were 
nearly forced out. Thus, according to statistics 
collected by the committee for helping the inha- 
bitants of the sea-coast of the Eussian North, in 
1899-1902, it appears that 60 per cent, of the 
households at that time on the West Murman 
belonged to strangers, and in the Kola peninsula 
even 80 per cent, of the total number of house- 
holds. The beginning of the seventeenth cen- 
tury was the time of predominance of the 
Eussian seacoast inhabitants in the North. They 
not only possessed the Finmarken fisheries, but 
they went as far as Spitzbergen, Novaya Zemlya, 
and the Kara Sea, bringing from there rich fish, 
cod, and wild animals. 



176 THROUGH LAPLAND 



The climate of the coast region — the Murraan 
coast, as it is called — presents no extraordinary 
severity. It is, in fact, colder inland than on the 
coast. Winter begins at the end of September 
and continues till May. The polar night is from 
the end of November to the middle of January, 
but the darkness is not so great as many imagine. 
The whiteness of the snow gives a reflection and 
glimmer of light and the aurora borealis sets the 
heavens in a blaze as with clouds of fire, turning 
night into twilight. The polar night means not 
the total absence of light, but rather the season 
when the sun no longer appears above the horizon. 
It begins to show itself again about the middle of 
January, rising higher and higher every day. The 
sun never sets from the middle of May to the end 
of July. But different explorers give different 
descriptions of the climate, doubtless in accordance 
with their personal predilections and points of 
view. Maximov, who is considered an authority 
writes: "One feels very sad, looking on the sea- 
shore. A grey sky, gloomy coasts, dark passes, 
predominant easterly winds, bringing constant 
fogs from the Kara Sea and from Novaya Zemlya ; 
frequent rain in spring, summer, and autumn ; 
constant cold, and weeks without light, without 
sun, moon, and stars. What a gloomy country ! 
What dull nature ! How painful it is to live on 



THE MURM-AN COAST 177 



this coast ! " Another explorer, Dr. VI. Gule- 
vitch, characterizes the climate of the Murman as 
moderate, and quotes a series of meteorological 
data which tend to show that during the year in 
general, and particularly during the summer, 
easterly winds are not predominant, that fogs are 
not frequent in the summer, and finally, that from 
the middle of May, and especially from about the 
20th of June till about the 20th of August, quiet 
and clear weather predominates, with southerly 
and south-easterly winds. A third explorer, Mr. 
Verestchagin, says that "on the Murman summer 
exists only in name, but is in fact a wet, rainy, 
and cold autumn," though, on the contrary, "in 
the middle of Lapland there are sometimes in 
summer such days as, one would think, have been 
brought by a mistake of nature from the distant 
countries of the torrid zone." A fourth explorer, 
Mr. Dergafcchev, says that in summer there blow 
on the Murman south-easterly and southerly winds 
with clear, warm weather, and that rain and fog 
only occur with northerly and north-easterly 
winds. 

Anyhow, in spite of different views, the climate 
on the Murman is not severe. It is without com- 
parison much colder in the centre of the land than 
on the coast, where the warm currents of the Grulf 
Stream moderate the cold to a great degree; a 

13 



178 THROUGH LAPLAND 



frost of 10-15° E. is considered a great rarity on 
the Murman. The average temperature in winter 
hardly reaches 6°, and sometimes there are thaws 
and rain. But, on the other hand, the average 
temperature in summer does not exceed + 8°, and 
sometimes there is snow in the middle of the 
summer. Spring on the Murman lasts from the 
1st of April till the 20th of May, if one can call it 
a spring in the ordinary meaning of the word. 
This season is one of continual rain and fogs, and 
is marked by the arrival of sea birds and the first 
parties of fishermen. The rivers on the Murman 
are usually freed from ice in May, and very seldom 
as early as April. But the summer on the Mur- 
man is very short, lasting only till about the 10th 
of July, i.e. for fifty days. The sun does not set 
during that time at all, and a new arrival on the 
Murman loses all conception of day and night. 
The summer weather is quiet and clear. Autumn 
lasts till the 15th of October, and the temperature 
does not differ much from that in spring, but it is 
very stormy. The winter on the Murman begins 
from the 15th of October; from the 13th of 
November the sun does not show itself at ail, and 
the Murman has continual night up to the 9th of 
January. The cold in winter is not very intense, 
but the dampness of the atmosphere is so great 
that near the shore the ocean never freezes for any 



THE MURMAN COAST 179 



length of time, a so-called crust of ice merely 
forming for only a brief period. The polar night, 
also, is not so very dark; the reflection of the 
light of the moon or of the aurora borealis makes 
it possible to distinguish the outlines and details 
of distant objects, and sometimes the light is 
bright enough to read by. The influence of the 
seasons on vegetation is less malign than would 
at first sight appear. The grass of the meadows, 
which are situated in deep valleys, develops nor- 
mally, thanks to the continuous light during the 
summer, when the sun does not set for fifty days. 
At that period not only does the grass grow to 
seed, but a great many berries, such as the cloud- 
berry, blue bilberry, and blackberry ripen. In 
summer, too, bird life flourishes, and nearly two 
hundred different varieties of birds may be found 
in the peninsula, including among others the 
thrush (missel and lang), hedge-sparrow, tit- 
mouse, wagtail, swallow and house martin, chaf- 
finch, skylark, magpie, crow, rook, raven, swift, 
woodpecker, cuckoo, owl, golden eagle, hawk, 
osprey, cormorant, goose, swan, mallow, teal, pin- 
tail, widgeon, eider duck, ptarmigan, hazel grouse, 
capercailzie, plover, lapwing, snipe, sandpiper, 
gull, and little auk. 

We may add here some opinions on the pos- 
sibility of colonizing the Murman coast drawn 



180 THROUGH LAPLAND 



in a book entitled "Northern Kussia," by Sidorov. 
When the Marquis de Faverse, the Governor of 
Archangel, received a petition from the merchants 
of Archangel, Viatka, and Vologda, asking him to 
authorize them to form a "Polar Company" in 
Petchenga Bay for fisheries, animal hunting, and 
navigation, he replied that " only two cocks and 
three hens could live there." 

The Vice-Governor of Archangel, A. Sofronov, 
who knew the country well, at a meeting of the 
Economics Society in 1867, characterized the 
nature and climate of the Murman as follows : 
"How can we make an agreement with nature 
that the soil, which in consequence of the climatic 
conditions is condemned to inactivity, should im- 
prove, or the climate should change, the winter 
should become shorter, the frosts less severe, and 
finally that it should be possible to introduce 
there any living thing? " Mr. Malishev, formerly 
a forester, who lived in Kola seven years, could not 
find anything to add to this opinion beyond that 
he thoroughly agreed with Sofronov, and that on 
the Murman it was out of the question to con- 
struct any means of communication, and that 
colonization was impossible. A certain Mr. 
Klaus, speaking of the great fall of temperature 
over the whole of Murman from the fifteenth 
century, adds: "Is colonization possible? Are 



THE MURMAN COAST 181 



we not to be glad that there are still some people 
who willingly inhabit our North, i.e. Swedes and 
Norwegians?" He evidently considered that 
what was healthy for a Swede or a Norwegian 
meant death to a Eussian. On the other hand, 
two men who have been in close touch with the 
people, and who have experienced the activities 
of nature and the climate of the Murman, hold 
contrary opinions. Mr. Kompovsky, the examin- 
ing magistrate of the town of Kola and the 
Murman district, who spent many years there, 
says: "The climate of the Murman coast is less 
severe than that of the hilly part of the Archangel 
Government, which is away from the Arctic 
Ocean and the White Sea. In Kola there are 
only 10-15° of frost, and only in a very sharp 
winter they reach about 23° — not more." 

The Kola merchant, Mr. Oskerko, goes still 
further; he says that "along the whole length 
of the coast nature, forming a defence to the 
eternally breaking waves, strengthened it by 
thickly grained granite rocks, thus forming many 
important sheltered bays and bends of the sea, 
giving a safe harbour, with many rivulets of fresh 
water. In all these bays, or rather all along the 
coast, penetrating deep into the land, pasture land 
can be found, where cattle breeding can be suc- 
cessfully introduced, and; to some degree even 



182 THROUGH LAPLAND 



gardening." The steep shores have a very im- 
portant hygienic signification, because at ebb-tide 
only the sea-level gets lower and the land is not 
exposed as in other places. This protects the 
Murman coast from malaria. 

Professor V. I. Albitsky, of the Kharkov Tech- 
nological Institute, who visited the Murman in 
1907, in his report of September the 2nd to the 
Chief of the Agricultural Department, in referring 
to the frontier Eiver Paza, which belonged to 
Russia in the times of John the Terrible and, as 
explained, fell partly into the hands of Norway, 
said : " The high coast mountains, extending from 
north to south, protect the basin of the River 
Paza from easterly and westerly winds. Paza 
Bay, well curved to the west, and also protected 
by high mountains, does not allow northerly winds 
to penetrate into the basin of the River Paza. 
Owing to such a favourable geographical position, 
this region has a beautiful moderate climate, 
which is difficult for one who has never been on 
the spot to realize, considering it is so far north 
(about 70° North latitude). The air is beautiful, 
easy to breathe, and warm, and there is excellent 
hunting and fishing, and for lovers of nature a 
great store of new beauties. In a word, the basin 
of the River Paza may be called the paradise 
corner of the Murman country, and one cannot 



THE MURMAN COAST 183 



help regretting that such a lovely place remains 
almost uninhabited, and very little visited by 
tourists." 

Mr. D. A. Protashinsky wrote in 1907 of 
the healthy climate: "I have lived here five 
years ; a native of the extreme south of Bes- 
sarabia, I was in very poor health when I 
arrived at Petchenga. During the whole time 
of my stay there I was only twice ill with 
slight colds, which lasted no longer than three 
days. At present I am feeling splendid : I am 
in very good spirits, and the reason of it is, 
of course, the nice healthy climate of the Mur- 
man, with its unusually soft winter. Fevers and 
nervous breakdowns are unknown; seldom is 
anybody here found coughing; the inhabitants 
enjoy splendid health. As regards the Nor- 
wegians who live in the neighbouring Fin- 
marken — more to the north of us — they strike 
one by their vigour and cheerful looks. As 
regards the celebrated northern night, the opinion 
of many that it is one continual darkness is 
mistaken. The sun, it is true, does not appear, 
but on the other hand there are very good 
twilights, which make it possible to do away 
with lamps for about two hours daily. Anyhow, it 
is not darker here than in Petrograd in November 
and December, when electricity and gas are 



184 THROUGH LAPLAND 



continually used." Woolfsberg, the Norwegian 
Professor, wrote in 1857: " In the southern 
part of Varanger Bay, purchased from Russia, 
the temperature is often 22-23° R. in the shade 
in summer ; the land is fertile. They grow 
there delicious potatoes, such as are not found 
in Norway ; gardening is excellent, the grass is 
very aromatic. . . ." Another Norwegian, Pro- 
fessor Killau, states that the average tempera- 
ture all the year round in Northcape is 10°", 
and that at Cape Northkin, which is to the east 
of Northcape, he saw bees ; " there are no diseases 
except scurvy, which is quite curable. . . 
A merchant of the town Moose (71° North lati- 
tude) wrote in the Finmar'ken Journal in 1868 : 
" On the 7th of February nice warm weather 
set in, light sunny days. In Finmarken there 
were last winter very severe frosts, which are 
considered very unusual ; the thermometer regis- 
tered 15°." 

The restoration of the Tryphon-Petchenga 
monastery is conclusive proof, and affords an 
instructive precedent and example, that it is 
possible to live and work on the far Northern 
Russian borderland. 

The surface of the Kola peninsula is hilly 
and interspersed with tundras and marshes. 
The ground is covered with a green moss, which 



THE MURMAN COAST 185 



forms a sort of elastic cushion, while lichen, 
wild berries, and other denizens of resinous turf 
flourish. 

Stones and boulders are very often visible 
on the surface of the marshes. One can walk 
freely on these hilly cushions, and there is only 
danger of sticking where the turf is bare or 
where a marshy stream flows. The southern 
and western parts of the Kola peninsula are 
covered with a fairly good forest, mostly pine, 
intermixed with fir, birch, aspen, mountain ash, 
alder, and bushes of ribes. Further to the north 
one finds crookedly growing birch, resembling 
apple-trees ; the birch forests are more like 
orchards with regularly and thinly planted trees. 
The peculiarity of these forests is rendered greater 
by the fact that the ground is covered with a 
thick white carpet of reindeer moss. Nearer to 
the sea the forest gets gradually thinner. On 
the rocky coast, and this only in places well 
protected from the wind, is found the polar 
shrimp-birch. Here the forest is practically 
under the feet of the traveller. 

It must not be forgotten that the local forests 
form an important support for the existence of 
human beings and animals inhabiting this pen- 
insula, as they afford an opportunity of shelter- 
ing against the cold and storms. This is not 



186 THROUGH LAPLAND 



a mere abstraction, and can only appear as such 
to those who favour a short-sighted policy of 
converting everything into money. The inferior 
quality of the forest will doubtless preserve it 
from extermination, and is perhaps in this respect 
a fortunate thing for the peninsula. It is easy 
enough to hew down a forest, but to plant one 
is a difficult business. 

The interior of the Kola peninsula is inhabited 
only by Lapps, and altogether there are now 
about 2,000 in the district. In 1895 the per- 
manent population numbered 8,690, and included 
5,720 Eussians, 810 Finns, 220 Norwegians, and 
1,940 Laplanders. The Laplanders live in small 
villages, consisting of six to twenty huts, called 
according to the locality : Pasretz, Petchenga, 
Motovsk, Kildin Laplanders, etc. The following 
parishes are registered in the Kola-Lapland volost : 
Kitsky, Voronieroutchevsky, Maselsky, Easnovo- 
lotsky, etc. — twenty-one parishes in all. 

They belong to the Finnish race with regard 
to their language and origin ; and of all nomadic 
and half-settled tribes on the globe, they rank 
the highest with regard to intellectual and moral 
development. Being of a quiet, meek, reflective, 
and honest disposition, the Laplanders represent 
a very useful tribe in the northern deserts. 
They make, thanks to their knowledge of the 



THE MURMAN COAST 



187 



locality and powers of endurance, very trust- 
worthy guides. 

Some people consider the Laplanders timid, 
even cowardly, but a race that lives in the midst 
of rough nature like this, swims daringly in 
stormy waters, fights with frosts and snowstorms, 
and kills bears, cannot by any means be called 
timid or cowardly. The continual hard struggle 
with elementary nature has made this wanderer 
in the wilds very cautious and inoffensively 
cunning for self-protection, yet without loss of 
the more delicate feelings. His timidity really 
raises his human dignity. Violence makes his 
soul tremble, but he does not resent his wrongs 
with bitterness ; he is grieved rather than angry, 
is not eager for revenge, and simply ignores 
the wrong. 

The Laplanders lead a semi-nomadic life, spend- 
ing the winter with their reindeer in the winter 
parishes ; 1 in the summer they send the reindeer 
into the tundra and go themselves nearer the 
sea and lakes. 

The winter dwelling of the Lapp — a small, 
smoky, sod-covered hut — is called a toopa. It 
consists of one room, and is heated by a small 
stove with a straight pipe. The stove is made 
of freestones and is very practical ; it does not 
1 Pogosty. 



188 THROUGH LAPLAND 



smoke, heats the room quickly, ventilates splen- 
didly, is good for drying wet clothes, heating 
water, and cooking. Now they are beginning 
to build huts consisting of two rooms, in one 
of which they have a Russian stove for baking 
black and white bread. They live principally on 
reindeer venison. In the summer they live in 
tents or in wigwams made of the branches of 
trees and covered with bark. Their food consists 
of fish, chiefly salmon and trout. 

The usual opinion that the Lapps are of small 
size, with crooked legs, long hands, black hair 
and eyes, swarthy complexion, scanty moustache 
and whiskers, is incorrect, for there are to be 
seen among them faces of European type, not 
a few of them being really good-looking. In 
winter they wear a fur cap, a fur coat of a special 
kind, trousers and shoes 1 with sharp bent-up 
toes, made of reindeer-skins with the fur outside. 
In summer they wear a knitted cap with a 
tassel, a blue woollen shirt, leather breeches, and 
kangas. In winter and summer alike they gird 
themselves with a leather belt, from which hangs 
a long knife. 

The Russian Laplanders dress themselves 
characteristically, changing their dresses and 
suits only in summer. The women wear a kind 

1 Kangas. 



THE MURMAN COAST 189 



of sarafan 1 and a peculiar head-gear made of 
red material, trimmed with lace. They keep 
their stores and household treasures in wooden 
storehouses, built on supports to protect them 
against wood-beetles and gluttons. 

The Eussian Laplanders belong, of course, 
to the Eussian Church. 

About the end of February and the beginning 
of March is the travelling season for thousands 
of fishermen and sailors going to the Murman 
coast from Archangel, Inega, and Kem. A tele- 
graph wire runs all the way from Archangel, 
Kandalaks, Kola, and Petchenga, and joins at 
Vadso. 

In the summer, steamers belonging to a 
Eussian company and subsidized by the Govern- 
ment run weekly from Vadso to the White 
Sea coast and Archangel, stopping at many small 
seaport towns on the way, and at the larger 
ports of Petchenga, Alexandrovsk (Ekaterina 
Harbour), and Kola. 

Travelling in these parts, it is best to get a 
permanent "red pass" from the Lensman, or 
Chief of the Police. This enables one to procure 
reindeer and horses for the sledges. A railway 
now is opened from Petrograd to Alexandrovsk. 
Alexandrovsk is easy to reach, and will be a 
1 Kussian national dress for women. 



190 THROUGH LAPLAND 



great centre for ski-running after the season is 
over in Switzerland. 

The following is the latest account from The 
Times Kussian Supplement of November 25, 
1916 :— 

Mr. A. F. Trepov, the Minister of Communications, 
together with several members of the legislative bodies and 
higher members of the Government, recently returned to 
Petrograd from a visit to the Murman coast. A Press re- 
presentative was given access to the Minister's diary in 
which he had recorded his impressions. 

The entire route followed by the Murman Eailway 
abounds with localities of surprising beauty, and the region 
as a whole is a northern Eussian Switzerland. Particularly 
beautiful is the Bear Mountain (Medvejia Gora), near the 
station of the same name, with a view of the large inlet 
of Lake Onega. This locality is in every respect suitable 
for the establishment of health resorts ; here, as in many 
other places along the Murman line, a meteorological station 
might be set up. 

Past Vygozer' the line goes through a picturesque 
mountain district along the shore of the lakes. Here a 
stop was made, and Mr. Trepov with his companions in a 
motor launch crossed one of the inlets in the direction of 
the village Nadvoitsy, where there is a splendid waterfall 
in no way inferior to Imatra. 

Proceeding farther, the expedition visited the town of 
Kem, with its old cathedral built a hundred years ago, of 
very original architecture, with three cone-shaped cupolas. 
From Kem on the ocean-steamer Kanada a four-hour cross- 
ing was made to the Solovetzky monastery. The churches 
and other edifices, surrounded by thick walls of large cobble 
stones, with overhanging towers (formerly barbicans), remind 



THE MURMAN COAST 191 



one of an ancient kremlin. The monastic sacristy, with its 
numerous and varied objects, is a rich museum. 1 

From Solovetzky monastery a crossing was made to Chup 
Wharf, situated at the head section of the Murman Railway, 
now in course of construction, work on which was inspected. 
Several sawmills have been set up in this region. 

The expedition thence proceeded to Kandalaksha, where 
blasting operations were inspected, as also the big embank- 
ment work for the railway track across several tributaries 
of the bay. From Kandalaksha to Romanov, on the Murman 
coast, the whole northern section of the line is still more 
beautiful than the other sections. At several stations the 
party saw Laplanders in their national costume of rein- 
deer-skins, and also reindeers with their original harness. 
The site of the town of Romanov on the Murman coast 
has been well chosen on Kola Bay. . . . 

The Minister reports that construction of the Murman 
Railway itself is proceeding quite satisfactorily, and there 
is every reason to suppose that it will be finished by the 
appointed date. 



1 The monastery of Solovetzky should not be missed by 
ski-runners staying at Kem. It is one of the well-known 
and famous monasteries in the White Sea within the Arctic 
Circle, in 65° North lat. The white churches with their green 
and gilded cupolas are very effective and picturesque against 
the snow and ice. 

Russians, Lapps, Samoyeds, Finns, and Karelians come 
to worship here. The shrines of Saints Zosima and Savvath 
are very beautiful with ikons of precious stones and jewelled 
crosses. Thousands of pilgrims flock there every year, and 
the monks keep everything in perfect order. 

There is a dry-dock, with steamers in summer to take the 
pilgrims to and from Kem ; also a large guest-house, as 
well as saw-mills, flour- mills, and smithy shops. — [F H. B.] 



OHAPTEE VII 

IN THE FAB NOETH 

Going North in Lapland — Polar Circle Station — Malmberg, the iron 
mountain — From Kiruna to Karesuando — Easter in the Far 
North — Wedding feasts and funeral baked meats — Life with the 
northernmost Lapps. 

Anothee excellent route to Lapland for the tourist 
or traveller is to take the train from Stockholm 
to Kiruna, or from Narvik to Kiruna. The first 
route is shorter, and saves the North Sea passage. 
There are only second-class carriages on the 
trains in winter, but they are comfortable and 
well-warmed, with good sleeping berths and a 
restaurant car for part of the journey. At Boden 
there is a station hotel, outside which the train 
stops till the morning, so that it is not neces- 
sary to move the baggage. Boden is a 
strongly fortified frontier town with many 
Swedish soldiers. 

We now approach the Arctic and Polar Circle, 
which is marked by a cross and indicated by 

192 



Photo by] 



SWEDISH LAPLAND : POLAR CIRCLE RAILWAY STATION. 




JUKASJARVI CHURCH AND TOWER. 



IN THE FAR NORTH 193 



other notices. The name of the railway station 
is Polcirceln. From "Polar Circle Station" we 
arrived at G-ellivare, which is, perhaps, the nearest 
Lapp town now to Europe. There is a very- 
good hotel at the station and a good road to 
Karesuando. 

Ski-runners will find a hill at Gellivare-Dundret 
2,700 ft., latitude 67° 11'. At Gellivare, too, there 
is an old Lapp chapel and cemetery, where 
Hogstrom, the apostle of the Lappmark, preached 
in the middle of the eighteenth century. 

Easter is the best time of the year to see the 
Lapps at places where they congregate, here and 
in other Lapp towns, such as Jukasjarvi, Kare- 
suando, Kautokeino, and Karasjok. 

Malmberg, the famous iron mountain, is 6 kilo- 
metres from Gellivare. The ore has about 55 
to 66 per cent, of pure iron, and is shipped in 
summer from Lulea and in winter from Narvik. 

Kiruna ' is the best starting-point to see real 
Lapp life. Its present population is 10,000, and 
ten years ago it was hardly known. There is 
an excellent hotel at the railway station, and 
facing the hotel is Kirunavara, a mountain of 
iron, 245 ft. high. There is a fine view from 
the top and some good ski-runs. At twelve 
o'clock in the middle of the day all hands are 
sent down, and blasting, the explosions sound- 

14 



194 THROUGH LAPLAND 



ing like a battle, is heard. It is a most in- 
teresting mine to visit, and has been known to 
the Lapps for many centuries. The ore contains 
70 per cent, of pure iron, so that it is not smelted. 
The rock is put in the trains of the new elec- 
trified railway to be shipped at Narvik. 

Kirunavara reminds one of the Rock at 
Gibraltar, and when it is dark is lit up with 
hundreds of powerful electric lamps, the effect 
of which is most beautiful. 1 

In Kiruna everything can be obtained in the 
way of clothes and provisions for a reindeer ex- 
pedition, as well as interpreters and Lapp 
drivers. 

Herr Borg Mesch has a photographic studio, 
where some good photographs of Lapp life can 
be bought. The well known Lapp, Johann Thiirri, 
who accompanied the author, lives close by at 
Tornetrask. 

We now prepared to start northwards on our 
expedition to the Arctic Ocean. We went 
through our provisions and baggage at the hotel 
the night before, and ordered horse sleighs to 
take us to Karesuando, which is as far as horses 
can go ; afterwards it is necessary to take rein- 
deer. 

1 There is another mineral mountain, the Luossavaara 
-392 ft.). 



IN THE FAR NORTH 195 



Bidding adieu to Dr. Martinelli and Herr 
Serbom, the postmaster, we left for Jukasjarvi, 
a place I had visited before, where we changed 
horses. The church is one of the oldest in 
Lapland, and also one of the prettiest. The 
tower contains the white coffins of the Lapps, 
which are buried later in the year at Easter, 
when the ground is not so hard. I once counted 
eight, and some must have contained children. 
The paint of the church, green and red, against 
the snow makes a beautiful contrast, and can be 
seen from a long distance. 

A book is kept for visitors to sign. Eegnard, 
the French dramatist, in 1681, the savants 
Linnaeus in 1732 and Maupertuis and Celsius 
in 1736, visited Jukasjarvi. Eegnard's memory 
is preserved here by Latin verses which he wrote 
in the sacristy of the church : " Hie tandem 
stetimus nobis ubi defuit orbis." 

The Swedish sledges are most comfortable, and 
riding in them is like lying on a sofa or bed 
with soft hay underneath. Many hours can be 
spent sleeping, wrapped up in rugs and blankets, 
while gliding along the snow for mile after mile 
to the soothing sound of the sleigh bells. 

Many hundreds of tourists come in the summer 
to Jukasjarvi to see the midnight sun, and, as 
the little village is so close to the railway, the 



196 THROUGH LAPLAND 



Lapps here are much spoiled by visitors giving 
them money to photograph them. In fact, the 
children run away into the houses, as if told by 
their parents not to be out unless they receive 
a few ore, and they well know the " Kodak " 
and its magic power. This custom is lost the 
further the traveller goes into the interior, where 
nothing but hospitality and kindness is received 
from the Lapps. 

Jukasjarvi lake is very large. On an island in 
it there is a Lapp cemetery. At our next stopping- 
place where we changed horses was a Statenstue, 
or Government rest-house. Half-way to Soppero 
many men engaged in the forest were seated by 
the open fire eating marrowbones of the reindeer 
and their meat. It was very cold travelling, and 
we were pleased to get into our paesks. After 
resting the horses, we crossed the lake at Ahven- 
voma and the Eiver Laino Elf, and arrived 
at Soppero at nine in the evening. It was a 
nice drive from Kiruna across country by winter- 
ways over the snow and frozen lakes and hilly 
country. 

The Swedish maps are very good and on a 
large scale, with rivers, mountains, and lakes 
well marked. 

From Kiruna to Jukasjarvi we paid for two 
horse sledges with our skis and baggage thirteen 




To face p. 197. 



IN THE FAR NORTH 197 



kronen ; from Jukasjarvi to Soppero forty kronen ; 
from Soppero to Idivoma twenty kronen ; and 
from Idivoma to Karesuando fifteen kronen — 
eighty-eight kronen in all. 

At Soppero there was excellent accommodation 
and a post office. 

The following day we stopped at Idivoma to 
change horses, and arrived at Karesuando, where 
the first kilometre stone in Sweden is to be 
seen. 

To Karesuando we had sent tidings of our 
coming for Easter, and everything was ready and 
prepared at the clean little inn or guest-house. 
There was a lovely sunset that evening, with a 
light and dark blue sky and a beautiful full 
moon. The cold was very great when the sun 
went down, the thermometer registering 50° below 
zero, but there was no wind. It is perhaps one 
of the coldest towns in Sweden, and Government 
observations are taken daily. 

The next day we called on the clergyman, 
the Eev. Vitalis Karnell, and his wife ; also on 
the Lensman, Herr Johann Vaara, and the post- 
master, Herr V. Lidstrom, who has been there 
thirty-five years. 

Karesuando, a real unspoilt Lapp town, is 
situated on the great Muonio Elf River ; the other 
side of the river belongs to Russian Finland. 



198 THROUGH LAPLAND 



The church stands up well on the hill, and there 
are many wooden buildings belonging to the 
Lapps, and a Handelsman to supply necessaries. 
There are very few trees to be seen, but there 
are good ski-ing slopes for exercise. 

It was Easter-tirne, March 23rd, and the 
great feast of the Lapps. There was no market 
or fair; it was simply like an English Easter, 
with holiday-making and religious services, con- 
firmations, baptisms, funerals, and marriages. 
The Swedish Governor of Lapland, Herr Oscar 
von Sudow, had arrived from Lulea with his 
wife, who spoke English fluently. We also 
found there Herr Elgstrom, a very clever artist, 
who painted a picture of the Lapps for me. 
There were no other Europeans staying in 
Karesuando, so we could see Lapp life for our- 
selves during the next few days. 

The Church festival began on Good Friday 
and lasted till Easter Tuesday. Nominally we 
were five days in church. As a rule the Lapps 
live far in the interior and can only go to church 
twice a year, the first Sunday in Advent and at 
Easter. The church, built on the site of the 
old one in 1820, is a very fine wooden building, 
well warmed by wood stoves, and with a gallery 
and high steeple. The service is Lutheran, and 
the Eev. Vitalis Karnell, who has a very fine 



Photo by] [Borg Mesch. 

KARESUANDO : HERB OSCAR VON SUDOW (SWEDISH GOVERNOR OF LAPLAND), 
LAPP WOMEN, AND CHILD. 



To face p. 198: 



IN THE FAR NORTH 199 



musical voice and is a good preacher, is liked 
by all the Lapps and is well-known among 
them. 

After breakfast we put on our skis and saw 
the Lapps arriving, some in pulkas, others on 
skis behind reindeer, and some walking on the 
road. They were all dressed in their best 
clothes, and when seated in the church, the 
colours and different blends of blue, red, and 
yellow on their brown and white paesks and 
coloured shawls adorned with silver ornaments, 
was a sight not to be forgotten. The church 
was crowded, about one thousand Lapps at- 
tending, the men sitting on one side and the 
women the other. Many had to sit on the 
floor. Babies were there in their canoe reindeer 
cradles, and dogs, of a large Pomeranian breed, 
lay at their masters' feet or ran about the 
church, and in and out of the door whenever 
it was opened. At funerals and weddings dogs 
come in with the same freedom, as they are the 
faithful friends of the Lapp and the protectors 
of the reindeer. In the afternoon the mis- 
sionary read the New Testament to the con- 
gregation, but the moaning service was that 
used all over Sweden. 

It was most interesting at the services in the 
church to see the propriety of the congregation 



200 THROUGH LAPLAND 



and their attentiveness to the clergyman. The 
people wept when the missionary told them 
how wicked they were. There is a very old 
Lapp custom, the " Lukutuksia," when they 
dance with each other slowly, howling like dogs 
when music is played or moon shines. They 
confess aloud to each other, and get quite crazy 
and mad, and almost resemble Dancing Der- 
vishes. This was one of the things for which 
the missionary rebuked them. The younger 
generation of Lapps, under the influence of 
modern schools, do not carry out this custom, 
but it is often found among the older Lapps. 
The " Lukutuksia" takes place in their own 
houses, as it is not now permitted in the 
churches. But it must be confessed that many go 
to sleep during the service, a circumstance that 
leads to a curious way of collecting money for the 
offering. A bag with a bell attached is fastened 
to the end of a pole, and the bell is shaken in 
the ears of the slumberers to wake them up to 
give their contributions to the Church. During 
the service the babies in the cradles are being 
fed and rocked on the floors and small children 
are playing about. 

On Easter Sunday there was a confirmation, 
and many marriages and baptisms. 

At the confirmation the Lapp children answered 



IN THE FAR NORTH 201 



the clergyman's questions quicker and better 
than the Swedish and Finn children. 

Weddings are vexy gay affairs. We saw four 
couples married at the same time, some hundred 
guests being present. The brides were generally 
dressed in red, with white shoes and red gloves, 
with beautiful silk scarves and tassels. The 
bridegrooms wore a very fine blue suit, which 
stood out at the sides, with white reindeer 
shoes and a square cap. No dress at a fancy 
ball can be more picturesque than a Lapp bridal 
dress in red, if it were not too hot for the 
occasion. It is curious to see the dogs go up 
to the altar, recognizing their owners. 

We took photographs of the interior of the 
church with the dogs lying about, and in the 
evening flashlight ones of the bride and bride- 
groom and party. The banquet was at 9 p.m., 
and reindeer cream, marrowbones of the rein- 
deer, and venison were the principal dishes, with 
hot coffee and cakes. Afterwards the married 
couples came to our inn and regaled themselves, 
and then at midnight started away to the moun- 
tains in reindeer pulkas for a real honeymoon, 
as the moon was full. 

At a funeral the wailing and groaning of the 
men and women resemble the howling and 
barking of dogs. Similar sounds are made at 



202 THROUGH LAPLAND 



the " Lukutuksia." The burial service was read 
in the church over the coffin, and many came 
to it. The man had died several months before, 
but could not be buried, as the ground was too 
hard to dig and there was too much snow. It 
was very strange to watch the number of rein- 
deer sledges, and to see the corpse taken away 
by reindeer to the cemetery, followed in the 
church and at the ground by many Lapp 
dogs. 

We dined on Easter evening at the clergy- 
man's house with the Governor and his wife 
and the Lensman, Herr Vaare, and tasted very 
good bear, which had been killed close by at 
Svapavaara. It was beautifully cooked, and bear 
steaks certainly are a great dish. 

When you greet a Lapp, man or woman, 
the arm is thrown across the shoulder. For 
" Good-morning " you say "Puris" (buris), the 
other answering, " Puris, puris." 

During our stay at Karesuando we used to go 
across the Muonio Elf Eiver to Finland for a ski- 
run. The country is flat about this part, so 
therefore cannot be recommended for good ski 
sport. The Lapps travel on skis at a tremendous 
speed behind the reindeer, and are soon out of 
sight down the river. There is a post office 
here, but no telegraph or telephone. The road 



IN THE FAR NORTH 203 



is good to Muonioniska and Haparanda, with 
milestones all the way, and horses can be used 
for the sleighs. The sunsets are very fine, and 
myriads of stars are seen through the clear air 
at night. 

After a stay of a week we were sorry to leave 
for our Northern Expedition, as every one was 
so kind and hospitable. 

The Eev. Vitalis Karnell arranged to get us 
reindeer and a good vappus to take us to Kauto- 
keino across Eussian Finland to Norwegian Lap- 
land. Bidding good-bye to our many friends, 
we packed our baggage and provisions on the 
reindeer sledges. The name of our vappus, a 
Finland Lapp, was Petter Vuopio or Sakkara- 
pekko. He lived in a place called Kotavuopio, 
on the shore of the Muonio Elf Kiver facing 
Swedish Lapland at Karesuando. 

We left at 9.30 a.m., but as the sun was very 
hot and the snow deep, it was hard going for the 
reindeer, so we stopped at Morjivaara, a pretty 
lake among many pine-trees, to lunch and rest 
in the middle of the day till the snow became 
harder. We got very good sour milk, called in 
Swedish "filbunke," at this rest-house. The 
cream on top is very wholesome to eat, and we 
finished off one bowl each. 

Towards evening, when the sun had gone 



204 



THROUGH LAPLAND 



down, we proceeded on our journey. We 
stopped the night at Leppajarvi, in Kussian 
Finland, arriving there at midnight, when every- 
body had turned in and all were asleep. We 
were sorry to disturb them, and opening the 
door, saw the whole family lying on beds in 
their clothes fast asleep. The owner of the 
house, a very tall Finlander, let us enter, and 
we immediately made some coffee and had a 
small repast and prepared for our night's 
lodging. It seems very- odd to walk into a 
house as if it belonged to you and calmly take 
possession of it. But such is the custom of the 
country in these curious parts. I had brought 
my own sleeping-bag and was soon asleep. The 
name of our host was Erke Palovaro. In the 
morning we had our coffee, and conversation 
commenced : in four different languages — English, 
Swedish, Lappish, and Finnish — we were asked 
where we came from and whither we were 
going. 

It had been snowing all night, and the way 
was so deep with snow that the road had been 
changed, and the tall Finlander came and 
showed us the new road as far as Aiddejavre, 
where the Government " Stat ens tue " was. We 
took a photograph of the boundary between 
Eussian Finland and Norwegian Lapland, marked 



Photo by] 



LEPPAJARVI : OUR PARTY IN FINLAND. 



[Author, 





To face p. 20-1. 



IN THE FAR NORTH 205 



by a heap of stones with a cross on the top. 
The rest-house was very comfortable and built 
in 1892. Many Lapps were about, and a very 
pretty Lappflickan, Elen Maria Danielsen, dressed 
in a white reindeer paesk, welcomed us. 

The next morning was beautiful, with hoar- 
frost on the trees and shrubs. We went for 
a long ski-run while breakfast was being got 
ready. There were many in the house — girls 
in bed, babies in cradles, black Lapp dogs on 
the floor, a typical Lapp scene of everyday 
life. The name of the Lappman who looks after 
this rest-house is Mattis Aslaksen Suri. 

Harnessing the reindeer, we soon got under 
way and reached Kautokeino, a large Lapp town 
with a church, a clergyman, a Lensman, Herr 
Plyme, and a telephone to Alten. It was a 
pretty drive and approach, coming in with high 
banks on each side of the river and through 
mountainous country. 

The Bishop of Tromso was staying with his 
curates, and the judge was also holding a court. 
We got excellent accommodation with the Lap- 
lander Nicola, who had been with his wife in 
Alaska and made much money in the gold- 
mines and in Klondike. The Lapps took out 
many reindeer when the gold-mines were first 
discovered. 



206 



THROUGH LAPLAND 



We had dinner with the Lensman and his 
wife, and afterwards visited the old church, and 
then went up the slopes of the hills opposite 
for a ski-run. Kautokeino is a very good centre 
for ski sport and easily reached from Alten. 
There are rest-houses at Gargia, 33 kilometres 
from Bosskop, Suolovuobme, and a fjeldstue at 
Biggelriobal. 

In the evening we had a refreshing vapour- 
bath. Here we were able after the bath to 
open the door and roll in the snow, which was 
very deep and soft. 

As the court was sitting there were many 
Lapps in Kautokeino, and in the Lapp house 
where we stayed there was much singing and 
dancing and drinking to celebrate the occasion. 
It was curious to see the Lapps helping each 
other to get into the reindeer pulkas when half 
tipsy, and when the deer were excited by the 
noise they made. 

One day the Bishop of Tromso gave a sermon 
for the Lapp children, which was attended by 
many hundreds of all ages, boys and girls in 
their reindeer clothes. 

After a short stay at Kautokeino the Lens- 
man got us some fresh reindeer and another 
vappus to take us to Karasjok. We bought 
very good dried reindeer meat of the Handels- 



Photo by] [Author 
KAUTOKEINO CHURCH AND BISHOP OP TRjMSO. 



To face p. 



IN THE FAR NORTH 207 



man, and were well provisioned for our difficult 
cross-country journey to Karasjok. 

We paid sixty kronen for the eight reindeer 
from Karesuando to Kautokeino, and arranged 
to pay a hundred and ten kronen from the 
latter place to Karasjok, with two drivers. 

The name of our vappus was Sara. We 
started on a lovely warm day-— the temperature was 
2° Celsius — and had our midday rest at Mieron- 
jarvi fjeldstue, and then continued to Lappo- 
luobal, where there were no rest-houses, so that 
we had to stay in the Lapp tents. A good fire 
was burning in the tent, so we immediately pre- 
pared our dinner, putting the reindeer meat in 
the boiling cauldron hung over the fire with a 
little dried reindeer's blood, which, as there are 
no vegetables, keeps scurvy away. The Lapp 
tent seen in the photograph is about 6 ft. in 
width, In this confined space the Laplander, 
his wife, and children, and dogs contrive to crowd 
themselves, and leave the corners for their house- 
hold goods, bowls, iron-pots, ladles, and wooden 
boxes. This inconvenience the Laplander is early 
accustomed to. But as a matter of fact the 
crowding means warmth and comfort, and en- 
ables him to withstand the rigours of the winter 
season. 

Tobacco we always brought with us, and a 



208 



THROUGH LAPLAND 



little brandy. The Lapps, both men and women, 
like both, preferring a dark, strong-flavoured 
tobacco. They look very contented, smoking 
their pipes. 

Close to the outlet at the top of the tent and 
over the fire is suspended a kind of rack to hang 
the cauldron on. 

The erection of the tent is very simple, being 
nothing more than a few forked branches stuck 
into the ground in the shape of a triangle. A 
few straight sticks are placed horizontally between 
the uprights, and a piece of cloth put round 
them. A few twigs and reindeer-skin on the 
ground on the snow serves for a bed. In our 
reindeer sleeping-bags we were very warm and 
slept most comfortably, the only sound being the 
wolves howling at night, reminding one of the 
jackals and hyenas in East Africa. There were 
many wolves about, so we could not let the deer 
go wild in search of moss. We got some of the 
Lapps to fetch moss, and put our skis and pulkas 
up in the snow to scare oil these dreaded animals. 
It was a very picturesque scene round the fire 
in the tent, chatting with the Lapp and his wife 
and children. One side of the tent we left for 
them and the other side we retained ourselves. 
There were also three black Lapp dogs who 
knew well the ways of the house, and when 




Photo by] 



LAPPOLUABAL : LAPP TENT. 

Many wolves here. Reindeer had to be tied to pulkas 



Author. 




Photo by] 



[Author. 



KAUTOKKINO : LAPP GROUP. 



To face p. £08~ 



IN THE FAR NORTH 209 



going out quickly closed the flap of the tent, so 
that no cold air could come in. We had an 
excellent dinner, followed by Royal Port and 1820 
vintage brandy. 

Sleeping, we lay close to the w T ood logs on 
the fire, and looking up, we saw bright stars 
through the smoke at the top of the tent. The 
women kept the fire burning bright red all night, 
and the Lapps can make a fire so well that 
little smoke remains in the tent. The bark of 
the silver birch trees is used for matches and 
candles, and it burns very brightly. Electric 
torches are a very useful invention, but the 
former really seem to answer just as well and 
has been used for many centuries. 

In the morning at five it began to snow. The 
breakfast was being cooked : dried reindeer blood 
in boiling water, also salt and porridge and some 
marrowbones and coffee. 

There was but a small space to dress in, and 
the Lapps seemed much amused at our shaving 
operation and at the looking-glass. The Lapps 
also washed their hands and faces, and the usual 
performance of drying the hay or grass for the 
shoes had to be gone through. As already re- 
marked, the shoes are the only part of the dress 
one takes off while travelling. 

Starting at nine o'clock, we found the fore was 

15 



210 THROUGH LAPLAND 



better and colder, and the way was down the 
river to Stiosjavre. We met no one, and there 
were no marks to show the road all the journey 
from Kaukoteino. 

The fjeldstue at Suosjavre was very good, with 
plenty of wood, paraffin for lamps, and china and 
glass. "We were now in April, and it was quite 
late enough to travel, as the days were getting 
warmer and the snow beginning to melt on the 
rivers. Eeindeer cannot travel on clear ice, but 
slide about, unable to get a hold for their feet. 

We followed the Jesjoka Eiver to Assebakte, 
and arrived the same evening at Karasjok about 
11 p.m. Travelling at night the snow was 
much better, and there was good fore for the 
deer. 

Karasjok has already been described, so I will 
continue the journey from Karasjok to Kolvik. 

There was a good road all the way, and we 
were able to have horse sledges, which were more 
comfortable, and we were not so cramped up and 
shaken about as in the pulkas. It is a pretty 
drive through woods. We stayed the first night 
at Skogauvarre Government fjeldstue, which is 
quite a nice hotel. The salmon fishing is very 
good in the summer, and one gets excellent food 
and beds. 

The next day it was snowing hard, and we 



Photo by] 



VADSO : NORWEGIAN LADY IN REINDEER DRESS. 



[Author. 




IN THE FAR NORTH 211 



rested the horses at Lakselven, where there is a 
Government Lapp school and a church. The 
schoolmaster was playing the violin, while the 
pupils were singing. Borg Mesch and myself 
also took it in turns to play. The Lapp language 
is very difficult, but this is an easy method of 
teaching the psalms and hymns to the children. 

At Kolvik we stopped with the Handelsman, 
Herr Bye, and he made us very comfortable. 
The steamer leaves Kolvik and goes round the 
North Cape to Hammerfest, stopping at many 
small and interesting ports, where the express 
steamers do not call. 

At Hammerfest and Tromso in the summer 
many thousands of reindeer cross over from 
Finland and Sweden. The reindeer are splendid 
swimmers. The Lapps and their dogs cross over 
to the different islands in boats. 

The reindeer are very pleased to get to the 
coast away from the gnats and mosquitoes of the 
interior, and if they remained in the forests during 
the months of June, July, and August, the Lapp 
would lose the greater part of his herd. 

On the islands they can climb away from these 
pests, some of the high lands being many 
hundreds of feet above sea-level. Also the rein- 
deer like drinking the salt water, and the sea- 
water is good in another way: it destroys the 



212 THROUGH LAPLAND 



eggs of the gadfly, which it lays in the hide of 
the deer. 

Sometimes the reindeer swimming across stop 
the steamboats, and it is an interesting sight 
for a stranger to see a herd of a thousand 
of them swimming, urged on by the dogs and 
the shouts of the Laplanders. The reindeer 
swims very lightly, its head and part of the 
shoulders rising out of the water even in a rough 
sea. Sometimes they have to swim two miles. 

While waiting at Hammerfest for our mail 
steamer south, we made several excursions on 
skis to the tops of the highest mountains and 
hills and saw some steep ski-jumping. Tyven, 
415 metres, from the summit of which there 
is a very tine view of Whale Island and the 
Bay of Hammerfest, made a very good run. 
We were piloted by a young guide, Herr Nils 
Braeckan. 

Going south we came across a large herd of 
reindeer as far down as Finse, on the Bergen 
railway, in charge of Norwegians. There are no 
Lapps much below the Polar Circle. 

Another route from Karasjok is down the Tana 
River, noted for its salmon, and horses can go 
all the way to Outakoski, Polmak, and Nyborg. 
At the latter place one can get a steamer. 

Another journey the author made was from 




HAMMERFEST : ASCENDING MOUNT TYVEN. 
Mr. Nils Braeckan, a Norwegian girl, author, and Lapp. 



To face p. 214 



IN THE FAR NORTH 213 



Kiruna, round the great lake of Tornetrask to 
Narvik. 

At Abisko there is a large Tourist Union 
hotel close to the railway. It is situated about 
1,296 ft. high, and has a grand view of the 
Tornetrask and Lapland mountains. At present 
it is not opened in winter, but accommodation 
can be obtained close by. 

There are many small Lapp villages scattered 
about, but no regular winterway. 

A railway runs to the frontier at Riksgransen, 
and continues by the aid of wonderful engineer- 
ing to Narvik. 

Any exact reckoning of distances and times is 
quite impossible to give when travelling with 
reindeer across Lapland. Everything depends 
on the weather and one's own comfort. I have 
always found it customary to rise at 5 a.m. 
and to start at 9 a.m. The traveller can gener- 
ally reach the destination he has appointed for 
the day. 

An Account Wkitten in Lappish by Johann Thueei, 
the Lapp Wolf-hunter. Translated by Professor 
Wiklund, Upsala University. 

19th March, 1913, Wednesday. 
I am now starting on a long journey with the English- 
man — really on a journey round the world. Our first 
journey is to Jukasjarvi, and thence to Soppero. There 



214 THROUGH LAPLAND 



we spent the night, and there we were feasted on reindeer 
marrow and reindeer flesh and other delicate Lappish food. 
It was an inn where we passed the night, and on the 
morning of the 20th inst. we proceeded on our journey to 
Karesuando. The posting-house is three miles, so we went 
on again to Karesuando, and reached there at 4 p.m. 

21st March, Good Friday. 
Bright weather, but 28° Celsius of cold. We are now in 
the parish of Karesuando, three persons in all. Borg Mesch, 
the photographer from Kiruna, made the third. First we 
went out ski-ing. At Karesuando we found a capital slope, 
and there we three drove in all directions, and that was 
pleasant. 

22nd March, Saturday. 
At Karesuando. 35° Celsius of cold at 6 a.m. Snowed 
at three. In the evening there was a red smoke before the 
sun. 23° of cold that evening. 

23rd March, Sunday. 
At Karesuando. 21° of cold at 6 a.m. ; 15° at seven. 

2Uh March, Easter Monday. 
At Karesuando. 31° of cold at six o'clock. Bright. 

25th, The Annunciation. 
At Karesuando. 31°. It snowed, and the weather was 
stormy. 

26th March, Wednesday. 
We "now started on a journey across Finland. There 
were a lot of Lapps, the photographer, and the Swedish 
Lord-Lieutenant, and they were friendly towards the Eng- 
lishman. The Lapps got married, and the wedding was 
celebrated in accordance with their customs. We saw that 
the Lapps of Karesuando were not so poor as those "of 
Jukasjarvi, inasmuch as they marry very young. Now 
we journey by reindeer to Kautokeino. We are now on 




SUOSJAVUE : SNOW-MOUND EEST. 
Author with spade to dig snow for reindeer to get at the moss. 



IN THE FAR NORTH 



215 



our way there. It was thawing, and the tracks were faint. 
Thus we reached Morjevaara Farm. There we ate and let 
the reindeer feed, and thence continued our journey. It 
was again rough weather. At 11 p.m. we reached our 
quarters for the night, but could hardly gain admittance. 
We lay on the floor. The accommodation was bad. 

27th March, Thursday. 
Eough weather. We reached Palojarvi Farm before 
eight o'clock. Relations of mine lived there, and there 
we had another meal. Set out on our journey, but again 
the tracks were bad. When we crossed the Norwegian 
boundary, a Lapp woman came up who had lost her way 
and spent the night in the forest. She, too, was a relation 
of mine, but we did not recognize each other. When we 
investigated this we [found] we were at any rate acquainted. 
She had her daughter with her, and they came from a 
sweethearting visit. She now followed our track, and we 
reached Aiddejavrre at 3 p.m. Bright weather once more. 
Here we saw the farmer's daughter in beautiful Lapp 
clothes. 

28th March, Friday. 
Oskel is the name of the farm to which we came, and 
there we spent the night. They were likewise relatives and 
acquaintances of mine, and nice people. 

29th March, Saturday. 
On the morning journey to Kautokeino again. We arrived 
there. There were Sessions being held here, and many 
gentlemen and Lapps, and my gentleman did not get lodg- 
ings, but the gentlemen found him quarters at Mikkel 
Hetta's house, and very nice it was to dwell there. Here 
we also saw many pretty Lapp girls and Lapp lads, and 
heard Lapp songs, which in the Lappish tongue are called 
jmkning. 



216 THROUGH LAPLAND 



30th March, Sunday. 
At Kautokeino. We also went to church. Journey to 
Karasjok. We drove down fronting a river, and came to a 
little farm, Lappluobbal. Here were the Mountain Lapps, 
and they had their tent hard by the farm. Here we were 
all night, and Mr. Butler lay in the Lapp tent till morning, 
and I slept in a comer (?). It was quite covered with snow 
during the night. This was also on the mountains, and there 
were many wolves. The flocks have to be watched night 
and day. There is plenty of excellent reindeer-moss here. 

31st March, Monday. 
We set out from Lappluobbal to Suosjavre. 

1st April, Tuesday. 
At Suosjavre. From here a stream flows down to the 
river Karasjok. At five o'clock, when we were eating, they 
told me a lie [April Fools' Day] that wolves were seen, and 
they wanted me to pursue them. Afterwards they laughed 
at me, but I did not think there were any wolves, but 
fancied there might be some fox or prowling dog. We 
started on our way at 7 a.m. The weather got warm, and 
a thaw set in. When we reached the Karasjok Eiver there 
was a little cottage, and we had a meal there and the 
reindeer obtained fodder. The banks of the river were 
high, and Mr. Butler could hardly get up to them on skis. 
W 7 hen we had had a meal we started off again and drove 
down to the line of the Karasjok Eiver till we reached the 
first farm. It was then already dark. We went in there 
and drank milk, and drove off again. But when we reached 
the village and church the people at the farms had gone 
to sleep and the inn was not yet ready. My gentleman 
tried to gain admittance at the houses of the higher- 
class people, but the latter heard nothing. Anyhow, they 
were awake at one farm, so we stole in and spent the 



IN THE FAR NORTH 217 



night there. Beindeer-moss was to be found there, so the 
reindeer also got food. 

2nd April, Wednesday. 
When it was again morning we started for the sea, and 
reached Skogauvarre. Here we spent the night, and here 
were many Lapp girls on their way down to the sea with 
horses, conveying reindeer-moss to the farms along the coast 
for food for the cows. It is very poor soil by the seashore, 
few -woods, and but little hay, and there are only a few 
farms, and the farm people live on fish. 

ith April, Friday. 
We went from Skogauvarre to Kolvik, [and during the 
journey the snow- slush on a big river was so great that 
the sleigh was almost wet through. The water rose in 
waves on each side of the sleigh. Here in the Karasjok 
district the horses are small. We drove for two miles on 
the frozen fjord, and when we got to Kolvik the weather 
became warm. There were many sea-birds. And now I 
conclude. 

Writes — Johann Thurri, 

Lattilahti. 

I have never known a gentleman who was so early a 
riser as Mr. Butler. He always gets up at 4 a.m., however 
late he may have gone to bed. 

Herewith I send you greetings, and now farewell, Frank 
Butler. 

Writes— Your friend, 

Johann Thurri, 

Lattilahti, Tometrask. 



CHAPTER VIII 



MODES OF TRAVEL: REINDEER-SLEIGHING AND 

SKI-ING 

Reindeer as beasts of burden — Reindeer and ski-driving — Breaking 
in the reindeer — Harness — Driving in the mountains — Bosskop 
market — Transport routes — Ski-running — Origin of the word 
"ski" — Different kinds of ski described. 

In the winter the whole of the interior of Lap- 
land is rendered accessible for reindeer and 
pulka, and so all travelling is done by reindeer- 
sleighing. The reindeer is more suitable for 
hauling than for pack-carrying, and, according 
to the condition of the snow, 1 is capable of 
pulling in a pulka a load of from 100 to 120 
kilogrammes. Eeindeer are successfully used 
for driving over snow in the winter, and are 
also employed for carrying loads when the 
fields are free from ice. They are, indeed, most 
useful as beasts of burden, and are generally 
used as such, especially in Kautokeino, Karas- 
1 Good "fore." 

218 



MODES OF TRAVEL 219 



jok, Polmak, and Sydvaranger. They are still 
of great importance as a means of communi- 
cation for exchanging supplies of dairy and 
fishery produce between the north of Norway 
and Norbotten and Finland. The Fjeldfinn 
with his reindeer is the only means of com- 
munication between Finmarken on one hand 
and Tornea Lappmark, Norbotten, and Finnish 
Lappmark on the other. Indeed, all over Kus- 
sian Lapland and in Nordkarelen, right down 
towards Kem, the reindeer is used as a beast 
of burden. The principal articles conveyed 
from Finmarken to the Swedish side are : cod 
and coal-fish, herrings, walrus-hides, tobacco, 
clothes, and flour. The main article of import 
used to be butter. The whole of Karesuando, as 
well as the upper part of Jukasjarvi, can never 
be certain of a good harvest, and consequently 
the population get their grain (Kussian rye) from 
Norway through the Fjeldlapps. 

Eeindeer are never used for riding on. They 
are well adapted for ski- driving 1 — that is, the 
driver stands on skis, holding the rein, while the 
reindeer pulls him along ; the speed obtained in this 
way is really remarkable. Horses can never replace 
the reindeer in Lapland, since they need better 
roads and would not find suitable food in winter. 
1 u Snorekjoring." 



220 THROUGH LAPLAND 



Male reindeer are preferably used for driving 
purposes, and are broken in when they are from 
three to four years old. The young reindeer, 
when full grown, can be broken in, but it is 
by no means an easy task, and requires great 
strength and skill. Sometimes they are har- 
nessed very young, when hardly half-grown, and 
boys struggle with them on an open space, free 
from stones and other obstacles, until both are 
tired out. The reindeer is often broken in by 
harnessing it to a load and then tying it on to 
another load, which is being pulled by a tame 
reindeer. The untamed animal struggles with 
all its might, but as the tame animal goes 
quietly, the young one has no option but to 
follow, thus pulling its own load and becoming 
gradually accustomed to it. Sometimes the 
reindeer is broken in by being tied to a long 
rein fastened to the top of a large and flexible 
birch-tree and left there to struggle. In its 
frantic and desperate endeavours to get free the 
reindeer bends the tree in all directions, but 
eventually gives in, calms down, and allows 
itself to be harnessed. The reindeer is greatly 
frightened when it sees the sleigh speeding 
up behind it, and only after a considerable time 
can the pulling rope be shortened. 

A reindeer never gets as tame as other 



MODES OF TRAVEL 221 



domestic animals. Although broken in, it re- 
mains half-wild, indifferent as to its master, but 
always conscious of a capable or incapable driver. 

The harness of a reindeer is simple, consist- 
ing merely of a furry collar, which the Lap- 
landers call " gaeses," fastened round the 
neck and to which the pulling rope is fixed. 
This rope, called " vuotta raippe,' 5 runs between 
the reindeer's legs underneath the belly and is 
attached to the stem of the pulka. A belt, 
called " ogotas," is placed round the body, 
behind the shoulder, for the purpose of keeping 
the pulling rope in its right place. The rein- 
deer is driven by a single strap laid across 
the animal's forehead but not round the antlers, 
and extended into the rein, called " lavecce," 
which just reaches the driver seated in the 
pulka. The thumb of the right hand is placed 
in a loop at the end of the rein, which is 
twisted round the wrist and so held tight. 
The rein lies on the left side of the animal, 
and as a rule the reindeer makes off at once, 
but if standing still, a blow on the left side and 
the rein thrown round to the right sets it off. 

A long procession of sleighs, each pulka being 
attached to the one in front, is called a 
"raiddo." 1 The man leading it is called 

1 "Kaid." 



222 THROUGH LAPLAND 



"vappus," a bad Norwegian pronunciation of 
the Finnish word "oapes," guide, leader, pilot. 

A sleigh not covered in is called "geres," 1 and 
is used either as a means of carrying clothes or 
as a seat for the driver of the reindeer. The 
pulka differs from the kerris in that the front 
part has a cover made of sealskin. These 
sleighs, which resemble the fore half of a low, 
narrow boat, are not fitted with runners, but 
have a keel. 

On account of its form the sleigh is well 
adapted to the needs of the country, and on bad 
roads it makes a serviceable conveyance. If the 
roads are very slippery, the pulkas swing 
violently to and fro, as there is no firm con- 
nection between the reindeer and pulka; further- 
more, the reindeer is often very whimsical, and 
sometimes suddenly stops, turns right round, and 
describes a circle with terrific speed. Thanks to 
the low pulka, the driver, as a rule, does not fall 
out. Should this happen, it is important not to 
let go the rein, but to hold on even if the animal 
drags the driver along the ground for a con- 
siderable distance. If the driver loses his hold 
on the reins he is left behind in the mountain 
wilderness, the reindeer setting off at a dashing 
rate in wild freedom. The monotony of a drive 

1 Kerris. 





Photo by] [Borg Mesch. 

LAPP MOTHER AND CHILD. 



To face p. 2-22. 



MODES OF TRAVEL 223 



is relieved by assuming all sorts of positions in 
the pulka, and the Laplanders are often seen 
driving with their legs outside the pulka. 

It is usual on a long journey to have five 
reindeer, one for the traveller himself, one for 
the " vappus," two for the luggage, and one in 
reserve. A reserve reindeer is called " varre- 
hasrgge." 

When the traveller is ready the vappus jumps 
into the sleigh, strikes his reindeer smartly with 
the rein, and in a moment the whole caravan is 
off at a high speed. 

If a fjeldstue is not reached before dark, it 
becomes necessary to put up for the night on 
the mountains. A bed is dug in the snow; a 
reindeer-skin is laid on the ground, another is 
used for a covering, over which the sleigh is 
inverted. Then, if the cold or the blizzard 
is not too severe, one can sleep peacefully. 

In the middle of winter, with 30° of frost 
(Centigrade), Fjeldlapps can be seen sleeping 
on top of their loads of meat and skins. The 
arms are placed in the "paesk," and if it is very 
cold the belt is tied round the feet, while the 
cap is pulled right over the ears. Thus does 
the Fjeldlapp sleep peacefully, snoring the whole 
night long. 

Early March is the best time for driving in 



224 



THROUGH LAPLAND 



the mountains. The days are longer, all lakes 
and bogs are covered with ice, the weather is 
reliable, and the roads are firm in the usual 
routes — firm, strong tracks leading across all the 
mountains. 

At that time hundreds of Laplanders assemble 
at the Bosskop market, when reindeer after rein- 
deer and pulka after pulka can be seen in long 
" raids " in the same track, on the way from 
Bosskop Hill towards the east, and then in a 
southerly direction half-way across the moun- 
tains, where the different " raids" gradually 
branoh off to the scattered Lapp villages. But 
the highroad winds its way across bogs and 
mountains, rivers and lakes, eastwards and then 
south to Karasjok town and to Kautokeino 
church. 

The vappus fetches his reindeer, slips the 
harness over their necks and fastens the vuotta- 
rope to the harness. The sleighs are driven 
either separately or in a column, each sleigh 
being fastened to the one in front. In the latter 
case the load is carried at the rear, and thus 
there is nothing for the travellers to do but to 
let themselves be hauled across mountains and 
valleys as if they were merely packages. When 
driving " loose " the journey is very exciting, 
After having inspected the " raid," and all being 



LAPP ON SKIS WITH REINDEER ON RIVER MUONIOELF. 



To face p. 224. 



MODES OF TRAVEL 225 



in order, the vappus jumps into the pulka, 
strikes his steed smartly, and all must be very 
quick in taking their seats so as to avoid being 
dragged along the ground on their stomachs. 
Then in a wild gallop all dash off, sending the 
snow flying in all directions, and soon reindeer 
and pulka are tossed about in what looks like 
a tangled knot, but which the Lapp soon disen- 
tangles. 

The reindeer suffer considerably where roads 
are in a bad condition or where there is no path; 
the ways lead over stumps and stones, between 
trees and bushes, up and down the steep hills 
and along the brooks, where reindeer, sleighs, and 
goods often come to grief. 

The routes which are mostly used in the 
winter are from Karasjok to Alten, and to the 
end of Varanger, likewise from Kautokeino, Muo- 
nioniska, Finland, and Karesuando in Sweden 
to Alten. 

The most important transport routes with rein- 
deer are as follows : — 



From Muonio to Alten ... 
Karesuando to Alten 
Muonio to Lyngen... 
Karesuando to Lyngen 
Jukasjarvi to Lyngen 
Vitfcangi to Lyngen 



about 32 Norwegian miles 
25 
29 
19 

30 
28 



16 



226 



THROUGH LAPLAND 



To the north the main routes of communica- 
tion by reindeer lie between Alten, Kautokeino, 
Karasjok, Porsanger, Tanen, and Varanger, and 
eastwards to the neighbouring Finnish parishes 
Utsjok and Enare. 

Ski-running, the second mode of travel in 
Lapland, has been known to the Lapps from 
time immemorial. It is mentioned as far back 
as a.d. 550 in the ancient history of the North. 
Procopius calls the Lapps " Skrithifinnoi " = 
striding Finns or Lapps, and that name, as well 
as ancient historical references to the art, proves 
that the Lapps have known ski-ing since prim- 
eval times, and it is often suggested that the 
Norwegians learnt the art from the Lapps. 
Paulus Warntridus (a.d. 730-800) derives the 
term "Skrithifinnoi" from running, in the bar- 
barian language striding, 1 and tells how they 
used to run by the aid of a bow 7 -shaped piece of 
wood. 

According to the saga of the Norwegian King 
Magnus Barfod, it appears that the Lapps used 
to sell ski, as we find the following proverb : 
" Snasliga snuggir, sveidar, kvadu finnar, attu, 
andra f ala " — "'It looks like snow, boys,' said 
the Lapps; they sold skis." 

1 " Skrida " means to push or propel oneself forward, and is 
used solely in connection with ski-running. 



MODES OF TRAVEL 227 



From the " Historia Norvegiae," a.d. 1190, we 
learn that the Lapps used to fasten to their feet 
smooth pieces of wood which they called " on- 
dras." This word is equivalent to the Old Norsk 
" onddri " or " onnur "—Norwegian " aander " 
or " onder." Fritzner translates this into "a 
kind of ski," and refers to the conflicting descrip- 
tions found in P. A. Munch and in Ivar Aasen. 
Aasen explains that " onder " is in some places 
applied to a short ski which is used on the left 
foot for hill-climbing. Munch writes : " In Hel- 
geland distinction is still made between ordinary 
'skier' (ski), which have no covering, and 
'ondrer,' the under side of which is covered with 
reindeer-skin or sealskin. The short, smooth 
hair of these skins does not hinder the running, 
but, on the contrary, tends to increase the speed 
when gliding downhill, and prevents the ski 
from slipping backwards when climbing uphill." 

It is very probable that the above descriptions 
are correct, particularly as it is possible that 
a short skin-lined ski, called " onder," was origi- 
nally in use, retaining the name after the prac- 
tice of skin-covering was discontinued. 

In Helgeland the term " ei aanner " is com- 
monly used for a plain ski, but in Salten, Ves- 
teraalen, and Tromso this name is applied to a 
skin-covered ski. Skin-covered ski are now very 



228 THROUGH LAPLAND 



seldom seen in Lapland, but according to Fell- 
mann they were occasionally seen in Utsjok ; the 
" bellings," or the skin on reindeer feet, were 
used for covering ski. Ahlquist states that the 
ski for the right foot, which was usually the 
shorter of the two, was occasionally skin-covered 
and called " golas." According to information 
derived from pupils at the Teachers' College at 
Tromso, skin-covered ski are not known in Pol- 
mak, but are being used in Naesseby. Sealskin- 
covered ski have also been seen on a few occasions 
in Alt en. The Lapps have got two names for 
ski, viz. "savek" and " golas." 

In Nansen's " Through Greenland on Skis " 
the word savek is used for a skin-covered ski, 
and golas for longer plain ski ; but according to 
Qvigstad the reverse is the case. 

Leem's "Lappish Nomenclator," a.d. 1756, 
mentions " golas " (plural golasak), i.e. a ski used 
for traversing the snow and lined underneath 
with sealskin with the furry side outward. 

Leem's " Lappish Dictionary," a.d. 1768, men- 
tions " golas," i.e. a skin lined underneath with 
sealskin, and savek or sabek, a ski used for 
running over the snow. 

Friis in his dictionary gives " golas " = big, 
long ski, and savek or sabek = ski. 

According to Qvigstad, savek or sabek is the 



Photo by] lAuthor. 

LAPPS PASSED EN ROUTE. 



To face p. '228. 



MODES OF TRAVEL 229 



common Lappish name for ski, indicating ski in 
general ; Qvigstad had not seen skin-covered ski 
among the Laps. 

G-enetz' "Dictionary of the Kola-Lapps" dis- 
tinctly mentions that savek are ski not lined 
with skin. 

The word savek can also be traced in the 
Swedish LapmarJcs; thus in Lule Lapmark we 
find sapeJc, which means ski in general. 

Qvigstad had not heard of the word golas 
(skin-covered ski) in Finmarken. It is, however, 
used in Sorfjorden and in Lyngen, and was used 
in the now defunct Finnish dialect in Kalfjorden, 
at Kvaloen, near Tromso, and in Helgo; further- 
more, it is used in Yesteraalen in the Finnish 
dialect, which is now dying out. 

The word is used amongst the Kola-Lapps in the 
form kolas, and means ski lined with animal skin. 

Leem is absolutely reliable in explanations of 
words, and Qvigstad assumes that Friis has made 
a mistake in the translation of golas. In Kola- 
Lappish, in the Eastern "Tersk" dialect, there 
is another name for skin-lined ski, viz. " kalk " 
(=Eussian kalga), although it is thought the 
Lappish name has been adopted by the Eussians. 

Amongst the Kvaens the usual name for ski is 
suksi — Mordvinic — soks, vogulic — bout, ostjakish, 
toch. 



230 THROUGH LAPLAND 

Linguistically the Lappish savek = kvsenish, 
sivakka. (1) The left ski being a little longer 
than the right ski. (2) Ski in general (Lonnrot). 
Another authority, Professor Ahlquist, says : "The 
ski for the right foot, being shorter, is also called 
1 sivakka ' and 1 kalhu ' ; it is lined underneath 
with furry reindeer-skin, this being essential in 
order to get a better hold on the snow." 

According to Lonnrot, kalhu means a ski 
covered with leather for the right foot. 

Skis are now generally made from birch, but 
willow and pine are also used. 

Either one or two sticks are used, but it is 
usual to employ only one stick without " wheels." 

Bindings 

are, as a rule, made of skin drawn 
through a hole in the ski, the ends being tied 
together in a knot, which (when properly tied), 
should lie on top of the upper part of the 
"komag." The binding is thus fixed right across 
the tip of the " komag," without any special 
binding round the heel. Instead of having a 
hole through the ski, iron ears of suitable size 
can be fixed, one on each side on the edge of 
the ski, to which the ends of the binding are 
fastened. Holes through the ski are avoided by 
the use of the iron ears, and the middle of 
the ski is not weakened. Both skis are of the 
same length. 



APPENDIXES 



APPENDIX I 

ROADS, WINTERWAYS, AND ROUTES 1 

The principal waterways are the Tana and the 
Karasjokka, the Pasvik Eiver, and parts of the 
Alten Eiver. Besides the two big rivers, the Tana 
and the Karasjokka with its tributaries, which 
are the main lines of communication, there are 
the two important winterways starting from 
Karasjok's parish, over which the mails are 
carried by reindeer to the inner end of the 
Porsanger fjord towards the north, and to the 
inner end of the Alten fjord in the north-west. 
These winterways cut through the northern half 
of the large and proportionally low mountain 
plateau of the Karasjok. The tracks partly 
follow the ridge of hills and partly wind along 
rivers and over a large number of lakes. 

The ordinary traffic routes are from Alten to 

1 Translated from the official books written by Amund 
Helland, and rendered up to date by the Norwegian Chamber 
of Commerce. 

233 



234 THROUGH LAPLAND 



Kautokeino, from Alten to Karasjok, from Kauto- 
keino to Karasjok, from Alten to Skoganvarre 
and the Porsanger fjord, from Karasjok to Skogan- 
varre and the Porsanger fjord, from Karasjok to 
the Tana riverway and the Pasvik riverway. 

Other routes, partly river ways and partly 
winterways, lead from Lapland to Finland. 

The distance between Alten and Kautokeino 
is reckoned to be about 16 miles, but it is actually 
120 kilometres. There is a road leading up the 
Alten Valley to Vina, then on to Gargia fjeldstue 
(which is 121 m. above sea-level), and ending 
a good way up the Gargia Valley. Going from 
Alten to Kautokeino with reindeer, one drives 
along the road for about one mile ; then up the 
Alten Eiver and some distance up to the fjeldstue 
Gargia. The most troublesome part of the 
journey, the crossing of the Bseskadas mountain, 
then begins. 

The Gargia fjeldstue is situated in woods, 
and at this point the long incline leading up to 
Kautokeino begins. Step by step the reindeer 
plods slowly up the long Gargia Hills. Pine-trees 
are passed, then birches are left in the rear and 
the well-known mountain Baeskadas is reached. 
Far below lies the valley, like a dark crevice 
between the mountains ; in the distance is the 
fjord between the Talvik and the Lang fjord 



APPENDIX I 



235 



Mountains; in front stretches the mountain 
plateau ("Vidde") in glistening white. 

The road above the Gargia Hills leads across 
a long, flat mountain range with five lakes fco 
the next fjeldstue : Suolovuobme (commonly 
pronounced Solovom) . 

From Suolovuobme to the next " stue," Bingis- 
javrre, or Biggeluobal, is about three miles ; here 
the road goes through comparatively flat land. 
The Matse Kiver must be crossed, and very often 
the ice is flooded with water, making the passage 
difficult to accomplish. 

The road continues across Stormvattn or 
Biggejavre and further across the Laksefjeld, an 
extremely long and monotonous mountain scene, 
which rises above the tree limit. There are 
some very steep hills on the journey from 
Laksefjeld down towards the Kautokeino Eiver. 
One is called " Pulkeknuserbakken," the worst 
being " Kautokeinobakken." Coming down on 
the river a birch grove leads to the next " stue," 
" Mieronjavve," or, as it is also called, " Kauto- 
keinobakken." 

Hence it is two miles along the river to 
Kautokeino. The river is very wide, and at 
some places looks like a lake, with low, monoto- 
nous banks on which birch-trees grow. Half a 
mile below Kautokeino is the well-known 



236 THROUGH LAPLAND 



Brsendevins Hill. The river soon makes a sharp 
bend, and the high river bank, on which 
Kautokeino Church is situated, is reached. 

In olden times the route across the Bseskadas 
mountain was not followed, but one which went 
through the Eiby Yalley and its continuation 
Avecce almost up to Suolovuobme ; in winter, 
however, tremendous masses of snow used to 
accumulate in the valley, making it extremely 
difficult to advance. 

The winterway from Alten to Karasjok touches 
the fjeldstue Jotkajavrre at Jotkavattn, and 
further on the Mollesjok fjeldstue and " Eav- 
nastuen," and continues to Karasjok. This road 
is marked. To the " Eomsdal " farm the drive 
takes about an hour and a half on the ice ; there 
is also a very good road from Bosskop in Alten 
and across the iron bridge at Elvebakken (which 
cost Kr. 145,000— or about £8,000— to build), 
through the Tverelv Valley. The ascent from 
the Tverelv Yalley is very steep. 

Having reached Jotkastuen, the Jotkajavrre 
Lake is doubled, and after crossing an arm of 
Jesjavrre (one of the largest lakes in Lapland) 
the above-mentioned fjeldstues, Mollesjok and 
Kavnastuen, are passed, and so Karasjok is 
reached. 

The way from Alten to Skoganvarre and the 



APPENDIX I 



237 



Porsanger fjord joins the summer route to Karas- 
jok. From Osterelvsseteren commences the ascent 
to the mountain plateau. The road leads across 
a fiat mountain with low hills, the scene some- 
what resembling the " Hardangervidde." 

The telegraph poles stretch in a long straight 
line over the mountains, and show the way from 
one telegraph stue to another. The first of these 
"skies" is called St. Hansstuen ; the others are 
named Stabburdalsstuen and Fsestningsstuen. 
They are small wooden huts, originally put up 
as a shelter for the Telegraph Company's work- 
men, and are furnished with a stove, a few 
wooden bunks, and stools, as well as some fire- 
wood. Close to the river Levnasjokka, but right 
at the top of the hill, lies Faestningsstuen, looking 
like a fortress in its commanding position and 
visible for hours between the telegraph poles. 
The way leads across two rivers, the Balges- 
vaggejokka and the Vuollajokka, towards Ovre 
Laksevatn, near which Skoganvarre is situated. 

The winterway from Kautokeino to Karasjok 
is not so much used as that to Alten, and is 
not marked. The traveller drives from Kauto- 
keino down the Alten Kiver to Mieronjavve 
fjeldstue, and from here in the same direction 
for a mile, when a turning is made eastwards. 
Lappeluobal, a lonely spot high up in the moun- 



238 THROUGH LAPLAND 



tains, is passed, and the Suosjavre, which is the 
only station on the route between Karasjok and 
Kautokeino. From Suosjavre to Karasjok the 
route goes along the Jesjokka, a river with a 
very strong current, foaming and boiling between 
the stones, often flooding the ice so that it is 
necessary to make long circuits. When approach- 
ing Avjovarre, at which point the Jesjokka turns 
towards the north, the river is extremely rough. 
When the Jesjokka is impassable it is necessary 
to cross the Skati Mountain, from the heights 
of which the valleys of Karasjok become visible. 
The night may be spent at Beskenjarg. The 
distance from here to Karasjok town is covered 
in about two hours, and the road along the river 
passes through some beautiful wooded country, 
with birches and tall pine-trees. 

There is also a winterway from Muonioniska to 
Enontekis and Kautokeino, which is the fastest 
route between the lower part of the Muonio Valley 
and Alten. 

The traveller may drive from Kautokeino 
through Finland (Enontekis) to Karesuando in 
Sweden in one or two days, according to the 
condition of the snow. The sources of the 
Kautokeino Eiver to Aiddjavrre may be fol- 
lowed, or to the Sitcajavrre fjeldstues, which 
are situated on the border of Finland, or past 



APPENDIX I 



239 



Mortas towards the post hut on the heights of 
Manselka. 

From Finmarken to East-Finmarken there is 
a riverway via Njullasjokka, which, however, is 
very seldom used. 

The following are the only routes of importance 
in this part of Lapland : from Kittila on the 
coast of the Gulf of Bothnia a fjeldway leads 
northwards past the west side of the Enare Lake 
to Utsjok at the Tana. This route is used for 
mails, and is probably the best road between 
Finland and East-Finmarken. Strictly speaking, 
it is only a winterway, although it can be used 
by pedestrians in summer-time. The distance 
from Kittila to Utsjok takes, as a rule, six or 
eight days in summer. In winter-time, with rein- 
deer, the same distance is covered in four or five 
days. To the southwest of the Enare Lake this 
road branches off at Enare Church, from which 
point there is one road leading to Polmak at the 
Tana, and another to Neiden and Bugo fjord. 
These roads are in about the same condition as 
that leading to Utsjok, although less suitable 
for use in the summer. 

Some distance south of Kittila and about 60 
kilometres farther towards the east, lies the 
village of Sodankyla, at the Jesiojoki. This place, 
like Kittila, is connected with the Gulf of Bothnia 



240 THROUGH LAPLAND 



by a good road, the distance being about the 
same as to Kittila. From Sodankyla there is a 
good road, or a combined mountain and river wa} 7 
leading towards the Ivalojoki, where the river 
flows into Lake Enare. Thence boat can be 
taken to the north-western side of Lake Enare, 
and then the road leading from Enare Church to 
Neiden and Bugo fjord, described above. 

From Kemitrask Church, which is situated 
about 60 kilometres to the south-east of 
Sodankyla and connected with the Gulf of 
Bothnia, there is a route, with alternate boat 
and fjeld ways, leading northwards, past Kairala 
and Tanhua, and joining the above-mentioned 
road from Sodankyla to Lake Enare. 

These are the only regular routes from Finland 
to Norway, but in the winter the mountains 
are accessible with reindeer almost everywhere, 
as there is always plenty of snow. A road, in 
the real meaning of the word, does not exist 
between Finland and Norway, and any one con- 
templating travelling in these regions must be 
well fitted out with tents and other equipment, 
and be prepared to endure all kinds of hardships. 

From Tornea, in Finland, [there is a good road 
along the Torne Eiver to Kolari at the Muonio 
Eiver, whence a path leads over the Muonio to 
Enontekis. 



APPENDIX I 



241 



A road runs from Kemi, along the Kemi Biver, 
to Kovaniemi, whence one road leads to Kittila 
and another to Sodankyla. There is also a road 
from Sodankyla to Kemijarvi. 

ROUTE I. — Alteidet with Bye Roads 

The road across the Alteid leads from Lille 
Alten fjord in Tromso Amt to Lang fjord in 
Finmarkens Amt. In 1873 it was resolved to 
build a new road from Alteid to Sopnes, with 
a branch from Nordskog bridge to Midtskog at 
the Lang fjord. The work was accomplished 
during 1873-8. The width of the road is 
generally 18 ft., at some places a little nar- 
rower, viz. 15, 12, and 10* ft. In 1905 the 
Storthing voted a sum of 9,000 kroner towards 
the continuation of the road to Tappeluft and 
Oks fjord. 

ROUTE II.— Eiby (Flinkestad)— Bosskop— 
Rafsbotn in Alten 

(1) Eiby (Flinkestad) — Bosskop with Bye Koads. 

This road was completed in 1886. The width 
of the road is generally about 10 ft., and at some 
places about 7 ft. On account of the big flood 
in 1886, which caused considerable destruction, 

17 



242 



THROUGH LAPLAND 



the road was reconstructed at the Eiby Hills. 
This work was completed in 1890. The width 
of the road is 10, 7, and 9 ft. 

(2) Beidge Across the Alten Eiver at Elve- 

BAKKEN. 

The great flood in 1893 carried away the 
buttresses which had been erected. The work 
was completed in 1896. The bridge is of iron, 
with three arches, each about 40 yards. The 
width of the road is 12 and 9 ft., and the 
width of the bridge is about 9 ft. 

(3) Bosskop — Elveeakken with an Arm to 

BuGTEN. 

The width of this road is about 12 ft., and for 
a short distance about 9 ft. 

(4) Elvebakken — Noedelv with Bye Eoad, Sagen 

— eognskog. 

The width of this road is about 12 ft., and 
at some places about 7 ft. 

(5) Bognskog — Bjornstad with a Bye Boad to 

Lund. 

This road was completed in 1904. The width 
of the road is generally about 12 ft. 



APPENDIX I 



243 



ROUTE HI 

(1) Alten — Kautokeino (Winter-way). 

Towards the marking and repairing of the 
winterway across the mountains the Government 
granted in 1888 and 1896 a total sum of 17,000 
kroner. On this route the following fjeldstues 
are situated : — 

The fjeldstue Gargia, about 20 miles from 
Bosskop. 

The fjeldstue Suolovuobme. 

The fjeldstue Biggeluobal (also called Pinges- 
javre). 

The fjeldstue Aiddejavre has been erected at 
a cost of 650 kroner. A "stabbur" and stables 
with hayloft were put up in 1892. 

Bridge across the Eiby Eiver. Eepairs effected 
between Bseskadas and Ladnatjavre. 

(2) Alten — Karasjok. 

Towards the marking of the winterway between 
Alten and Karasjok the Government granted a 
sum of 1,480 kroner, and in 1897, 3,000 kroner 
were granted towards reconstruction of the 
winterway over Nalganes on the same route. 

An annual grant of 48 kroner was also made 
towards the marking of the Lake Jesjavre. 



244 THROUGH LAPLAND 



The following fjeldstues are situated on this 
route : — 

The fjeldstue Jotkajavre is situated about 
40 miles from Bosskop, and was erected during 
1877-9, after the Government had taken over 
the maintenance of all fjeldstues on the routes 
Alten — Kautokeino — Finland and Alten — Karas- 
jok. This stue cost 3,820.25 kroner. 

The fjeldstue Mollesjok was erected in 1882 
and cost 546 kroner. The fjeldstue Kavdojavre 
(Kavnastuen, also called Pantojavre) was erected 
in 1864. 

ROUTE IY.— Hjelmso 

A path was made between Akker fjord and 
Kjeilen in 1893. The width of this path is about 
3 ft. In 1905 the Storthing voted 3,000 kroner 
for the building of a road at Ingo. 

ROUTE Y.— Tana fjord— Yaranger fjord— Yadsb— Yardo 

(1) Tananes — Seida. 

This road was completed in 1899. The width 
of the road is generally 12 ft. 

(2) Seida — Nyboeg — Vadso. 

The road from Seida — Nyborg was completed 
in 1886 (width of road about 8 ft.), and the road 



APPENDIX I 



245 



from Nyborg — Vadso in the same year (width 
of road about 11-12 ft.). 

(3) Vadso — Vaedo (parts). 

The road from Vadso to Store Ekkero was 
completed in 1890 (width of road about 12 and 
10 ft.). 

(4) Solnes — Skalelv (width of road about 11- 

12 ft.). 

The construction of this road was begun in 
1902. 

(5) Nyboeg — Kaelbotn. 

This road was completed in 1901 (width of 
road about 11-12 ft.). 

(6) Tana — Smalfjobden. 

The road was completed in 1904 (width of 
road about 11-12 ft.). 

ROUTE YI 

(1) Sydvabangee. 

(2) Pasvikelven — Langfjobddalen (Eidet — Fueumo 

OG RYENGEN — NiEVEESKEUKBUGTEN) — (width 

about 12 ft.). 



246 THROUGH LAPLAND 



ROUTE ¥11 —Frontier 

GuiENDSE — Jakobselv in Sydvakangee (width of 
road 9 ft., 8 ft., and 6 ft.). 

ROUTE YIII.— Kolvik— LakselY 

(width of road about 12 ft.). 

ROUTE IX.— South HonningsYaag— North Honnings- 
vaag, with a path to KjeMk 

(width of road 12 ft. and 9 ft.). 

ROUTE X.— Bugo fjord— Frontier of Finland 

Towards marking of the winterway between 
Bugo fjord and the Finnish border the Govern- 
ment granted a sum of 400 kroner in 1897. 

Kepairs have been effected on the following 
routes : — 

(1) The winterway from Eiby to Kautokeino. 

(2) The winterway from Alten to Karasjok. 

ROUTE XL— Kolvik— Karasjok 

The easiest way to Karasjok is to start from 
Kolvik by the Porsanger fjord, whence steamers 
are running. A good road is being built along 
the west side of the fjord from Kolvik to Laks- 



APPENDIX I 



247 



elvens Church, the length of which will be 
19 miles. The journey from here to Skoganvarre 
fjeldstue can be made partly by boat, viz. on 
the Lower Laksevatn and the Upper Lak- 
sevatn, whence the distance to Karasjok is about 
31 miles. 

Since the steamship service started from Kolvik 
the above route has become Karasjok's main 
connection with the outer world. Previously 
the mail route to Karasjok started from Alten, 
but to-day a shorter route is followed, viz. from 
Kolvik and past the fjeldstue Skoganvarre. 

To reach Karasjok the express route to Hon- 
ningsvaag may be taken, and then the steamer 
to Kolvik on the Porsanger fjord. From Kolvik 
the journey is continued by boat to the Lakselv, 
at the inner end of the Porsanger fjord. The 
journey from Kolvik to Lakselv can also be made 
on foot. The Lakselv is a large river with splendid 
fishing. From Lakselv the route continues to 
Nedrevatn. Then the Nedrevatn is crossed and 
the Ovrevatn reached, whence there is about 
12 miles to Skoganvarre fjeldstue, which is 
situated at Ovrevatn facing " Offerholmen," a 
place where the Fjeldlapps in olden times used 
to worship their gods. There is beautiful wood 
and mountain scenery all along the Lakselv ; 
the river is followed all the time. 



248 THROUGH LAPLAND 



The continuation of the river from Skoganvarre 
is called Fielbma. This way also leads to 
Karasjok. 

The way past Skoganvarre is the shortest and 
most natural connection between Karasjok and 
the coast. At Kolvik the new road which is 
being built to the interior of Lapland is met. 

From Skoganvarre the route leads towards the 
south-east, to the hills at Iggjajavre, Natvandet, 
whence there are long hills down towards the 
Eiver Karasjokka. From Skoganvarre to Karas- 
jok is a distance of about 6 miles. 

From Lakselv to Skoganvarre the journey is 
about 30 kilometres ; in winter it is usual to 
drive across the two Laksevatn and then to 
follow the river down to the lake. 

In summer-time the usual route to Karasjok 
is on the Tana ; about 24 miles is reckoned by 
boat from Karasjok to Tanen, but across the 
mountains to Porsanger the distance is only 
about 10 miles. 



APPENDIX II 

FJELDSTUES (BEST- OB GUEST-HOUSES) 

As the country through which the roads and 
tracks run is a vast, uninhabited, and barren 
land, the Government have built fjeldstues of 
various sorts where shelter can be had. They are 
splendidly arranged, and in the ordinary routes 
are found about 30 English miles apart. Some 
of the stues belong to the Telegraph Company, 
others to the Forestry Association, and others 
again to the Post Office. 

On the routes from Alten to Kautokeino 
and Finland and from Alten to Karasjok the 
fjeldstues belong to the State. 

The following fjeldstues are situated in Alten : — 

(1) Fjeldstuen Jotkajavre, on the route from 
Alten to Karasjok, 66 km. from Bosskop. This 
is an excellent stue, with stables, " stabbur," 
and shed. A boat also belongs to it. 

(2) Fjeldstuen Gargia, on the route (fjeldway) 
to Kautokeino, about 20 miles from Bosskop. 

249 



250 THROUGH LAPLAND 



This is also a good stue, with travellers' room, 
stables, and "gamme." 1 

The fjeldstues in Kautokeino parish are as 
follows : — 

(1) Fjeldstuen Suolovuobme or Myrsletten, on 
the route Alten — Kautokeino — Finland. Here is 
a special stue with two rooms, also stables, sheds, 
and "gammes"; improvements and repairs have 
been recently carried out. 

(2) Fjeldstuen Biggeluobal or Lien, in Kauto- 
keino, is situated on the route Alten — Kautokeino 
— Finland. There is a travellers' room, stables, 
and sheds ; a new building was erected in 1905. 

(3) Kautokeinobakken (the old name was 
Mieronjavve) is private property. The Govern- 
ment grants a yearly sum of Kr. 100 for 
maintenance. 2 

(4) Fjeldstuen Aiddejavre or Solelvneset is 
situated on the route Alten — Kautokeino — Fin- 
land. There is a stue, " stabbur," stables, and 
sheds. A new building was erected in 1911. 

(5) Ovreengen (the old name was Siccajavrre) 
is a private stue. The Government grants a 
sum of 160 kroner per annum. 

(6) Lavinjavrre (Skogstuen) in Kautokeino is 
private property. The Government grants 10 
kroner per annum. 

1 Turf hut. 9 A krone = Is. l$d. in English currency. 



APPENDIX II 



251 



The fjeldstues in Karasjok are as follows : — 

(1) Fjeldstuen Mollesjok, in Karasjok parish, is 
situated on the route from Alten to Karasjok. 

(2) Fjeldstuen Eavddojavrre (Eavnastuen), in 
Karasjok, is situated on the route Alten — 
Karasjok. Two stues, hayloft, stables, and shed. 
A new building has been recently erected. 

(3) Fjeldstuen Suosjavre, in Karasjok, is pri- 
vate property. The Government grants a sum of 
120 kroner per annum. It is situated at the 
south side of Lake Suosjavre. A new building 
has been recently put up. 

(4) New stue at Avjuvarre. 

(5) Fjeldstuen Levojok, in Karasjok parish, on 
the route Sirma — Valjokholmen, Polmak — Karas- 
jok. There is a building with two rooms for 
travellers, and sheds and " stabbur." A new 
" folkestue " has been recently erected. 

(6) Holmen stue (previously also called Val- 
jokholmen), on the route Polmak — Karasjok, is 
private property. The Government grants a sum 
of 50 kroner per annum for maintenance. 

(7) Bojobaeske Post-stue and Stipanavttsje 
Post-stue in Karasjok, situated on the summer 
route between Alten and Karasjok. 

(8) Fjeldstuen Skoganvarre, in Kistrand parish, 
is situated about 28 kilometres above the Por- 
sanger fjord on the road to Karasjok. New 



252 THROUGH LAPLAND 



buildings have been erected. " Folkestue " and 
stables. 

(9) Laevdujavuoppe. This is a new stue, and 
is situated on the route Lakselv — Karasjok. 

(10) Sirma fjeldstue is situated in Polmak. It 
is private property ; the Government grants a 
sum of 50 kroner per annum. 

The Government have changed the names of 
several fjeldstues, i.e. : — 

New Names. Old Names. 

Lien. Biggeluobal. 

Laevjok. Levojok. 

Myrsletten. Suolovuobme. 

Eavnastuen. Eavddojavrre. 

Solelvneset. Aiddejavrre. 



The following stues belong to the Telegraph 
Company : — 

(1) Stuevatn fjeldstue on the Kvaenangs 
Mountain in Alten parish ; contains one room. 

(2) St. Hansstuen on the Porsanger Mountain 
in Alten; contains one room. 

(3) Fjeldstue on the Porsanger Mountain in 
Alten parish. 

(4) Faestningsstuen on the Porsanger Mountain 
in Karasjok. 



APPENDIX II 



253 



(5) Vadavarre fjeldstue in Alten parish; 
contains one room. 

(6) Fjeldstue on Sharvberget, in Kistrand 
parish, between Kistrand and Kepvaag ; contains 
one room. 

(7) The Overseer stue in Polmak, in N&sseby 
parish. 

(8) Stue in Kongso fjord, in Tanen parish ; 
contains one room. 

(9) Stue at Jiertasjokka, called Tana fjeldstue, 
in Tanen; contains one room and hall. 

(10) Overseer stue, at Henrikshaugen, in the 
Lang fjord Yalley in Tanen ; contains two rooms. 

(11) Stue on the route Skoganvarre — Tana ; is 
situated about 20 kilometres to the south-east of 
Skoganvarre, in Karasjok, with a magnificent view. 

(12) Stue on the Mehavns Mountain, in Tanen 
parish; contains one room and hall. 

(13) Stue in the Koi fjord Valley, in Tanen; 
contains one room. 

(14) Fjeldstue on the Sarberg, on the Magero, 
in Maaso ; contains one room. 

(15) Fjeldstue on the Kobber fjord Mountain, 
in Maaso parish; contains one room. 

(16) Stue at Kula, Kulfjordbund, in Maaso ; 
contains hall and one room. 

(17) Stue at Lafjordeid, in Maaso; contains 
hall and one room. 



254 THROUGH LAPLAND 



(18) Stue in the Talvik Valley, in Talvik 
parish; contains one room and hall. 

(19) Stue at Biegga-cokka-javrre, in Talvik 
parish. 

(20) A boatshed at Leirbotnvatn, in Talvik 
parish ; built of stone and equipped with a stove. 

(21) Stue at Aisaroaivve, in Kvalsund. 

(22) Boatshed at Yirro savo, in Kvalsund; 
built of stone, equipped with a stove. 

Other buildings belonging to the Telegraph 
Company are :— 

(23) Boatshed at Svartberget, in Kvalsund 
parish. 

1(24) Boatshed in Mathisdalen, in Alten parish. 

(25) Boatshed on the Porsanger Mountain, in 
Kistrand parish. 

(26) Boatshed at Skoganvarre, in Kistrand 
parish. 

(27) Boatshed by the Kongso fjord, in Tanen 
parish. 

(28) House at Havosund. 

The following stues belong to the Forestry 
Association : — 

(1) Gargia-stuen in Alten parish, about 30 
kilometres from Bosskop. 

(2) Goskama-stuen, in the Eiby Valley, about 
30 kilometres from Bosskop. 



APPENDIX II 



255 



(3) Eaiti-stuen, by Karasjokka, about 70 kilo- 
metres above Karasjok Church. 

(4) Baeivasgiedde-stuen, situated at Karasjok, 
about 100 kilometres above Karasjok Church. 

(5) Jorgastak-stuen, by Anarjokka, about 50 
kilometres above Karasjok Church. 

(6) Bassevuovdde-stuen, by Anarjokka, about 
100 kilometres above Karasjok Church. 

All of these stues are well built and contain 
two separate rooms. There are stoves, bunks, 
tables, and seats, and the necessary stores. The 
Kaiti-stue has only one room. The stues are 
locked, but keys can be obtained by travellers 
from the Forestry officials. 

The Lensman in Karasjok has put up a stue 
at Beskenjarg, about 33 kilometres above the 
church by Karassjokka. 

At Menikafoss, in Sydvaranger, there is an 
old stue. 



APPENDIX III 



TELEGBAPH AND TELEPHONE OFFICES 



Alten, Alten parish 
Baads fjord, Vardo parish . 
Berg fjord, Loppen parish . 
Berlevaag, Berlevaag parish 
Bille fjord yttre, Kistrand parish. 
Breivik, Hasvik parish 
Breivikhotn, Hasvik parish . 
Bugofjorden, Sydvaranger parish 
Bugones, Sydvaranger parish 
Dy fjord, Lebesby parish 
Ekkero, Nordvaranger parish 
Elvebakken, Alten parish 
Elvenes, S. Varanger parish 
Finkongkjeilen, Gamvik parish 
Finnes, Maaso parish . 
Galten, Hasvik parish . 
Gamvik, Gamvik parish 
Gjesvaer, Maaso parish 
Grsense-Jakobselv, S. Varanger 

parish 

Hammerfest .... 
Hasvik, Hasvik parish 
Havningberg, Vardo parish 
Havosund, Maaso parish . 



Telegraph and telephone 

Telegraph 

Telephone 

Telegraph and telephone 

Telephone 

Telephone 

Telephone 

Telephone 

Telegraph 

Private telephone 

Telephone 

Telephone 

Telegraph 

Telegraph and telephone 

Telephone 

Telephone 

Telegraph and telephone 
Telegraph and telephone 

Telegraph 

Telegraph and telephone 
Telephone 

Telegraph and telephone 
Telegraph and telephone 



APPENDIX III 



257 



Hjelmsoen, Maaso parish . 
Honningvaag, Kjelvik parish 
Hopseidet, Gamvik parish . 
Ingoy, Maaso parish . 

Jakobselv vestre, N. Varanger 

parish 

Jarfjorden, S. Varanger parish . 
Kaa fjord, Alten parish 
Kaarhavn, Hammerfest parish . 
Kamovaer, Kjelvik parish . 

Karasjok 

Kautokeino 

Kiberg, Vardo parish . 
Kirkenes, Varanger parish . 
Kistrand, Kistrand parish . 
Kjelvik, Kjelvik parish 
Kjolle fjord, Lebesby parish 
Kolvik, Kistrand parish 
Komag fjord, Talvik parish . 
Kongsfjorden, Berlevaag parish . 
Korsfjorden, Talvik parish . 
Kvalsund, Kvalsund parish 
Kvitnes, Berlevaag parish 
Lakselven, Kistrand parish . 
Lebesby parish .... 
Loppen, Oks fjord parish . 
Losvik, Gamvik parish 
Maaso, Maaso parish . 
Mafjordhamn, Maaso parish 
Makur, Vardo parish . 
Mefjorden, Hammerfest parish . 
Mehavn, Gamvik parish 
Neiden, S. Varanger parish . 
Nyborg, Naesseby parish 

18 



Telephone 

Telegraph and telephone 
Telegraph 

Wireless, telegraph and 
telephone 

Telephone 
Telegraph 
Telephone 
Telephone 
Telephone 

Telegraph and telephone 
Telegraph and telephone 
Telegraph and telephone 
Telegraph and telephone 
Telegraph and telephone 
Private telephone 
Telegraph and telephone 
Telephone 
Telephone 

Telegraph and telephone 

Telegraph 

Telephone 

Telegraph 

Telephone 

Telegraph and telephone 

Telephone 

Telephone 

Telephone 

Private telephone 

Telephone 

Telephone 

Telegraph and telephone 

Telephone 

Telephone 



258 THROUGH LAPLAND 



Naesseby, Nassseby parish . 
Naever fjord, Kvalsund parish 
Oksefjorden, Lebesby parish 
Polmak, Polmak parish 
Porsa, Kvalsund parish 
Eafsbotn, Alten parish 
Eeppar fjord, Kvalsund parish . 
Eepvaag, Kjelvik parish 
Eis fjord, Gamvik parish 
Eolfsohavn, Maaso parish . 
Sandland, Oks fjord parish . 
Sandvikvaer, Maaso parish . 
Sandobotten, Hammerfest parish 
Skaarsvaag, Kjelvik parish . 
Skjaanes, Gamvik parish 
Skjotningberg, Lebesby parish . 
Srnalfjorden, Tanen parish . 
Sopnes, Talvik parish 
Store Korsnes, Talvik parish 
Sylte fjord, Vardo parish 
Sorvaer, Hasvik parish 
Talvik, Talvik parish . 
Tanen, Tanen parish . 
Tappeluft, Talvik parish 
Tu fjord, Maaso parish 
Ty fjord, Gamvik parish 
Vadso . . 

Vardo 

Oks fjord, Oks fjord parish 



Telephone 
Private telephone 
Telephone 
Telegraph 
Private telephone 
Telephone 

Telegraph and telephone 

Telegraph and telephone 

Telephone 

Telephone 

Telephone 

Private telephone 

Telegraph and telephone 

Telephone 

Telephone 

Telephone 

Telephone 

Telephone 

Telephone 

Telegraph and telephone 

Telephone 

Telephone 

Telegraph and telephone 
Telephone 

Telegraph and telephone 
Telephone 

Telegraph and telephone 
Telegraph and telephone 
Telephone 



Akker fjord, Hjelmso parish . Telephone 

Bonakas, Tanen parish . . Telephone 

Bugten i Alten, Elvebakken parish Telephone 

Bor fjord, Galten parish . . Telegraph and telephone 



APPENDIX III 



259 



Dy fjord in Tanen parish . . Telephone 

Gamnes i Karlsoy parish . . Telephone 

Gargia, Alten parish . . . Telephone 

Hartvikroren, Maaso parish . Telephone 
Hoivik pr. Breivikbotn, Breivik- 

botn parish .... Telegraph 

Joraholmen, Alten parish . . Telephone 

Leirbotn, Talvik parish . . Telephone 

Levjok, nr. Vadso, Nyborg parish Telegraph 
Me fjord i Soroen, Mefjorden, 

Hammerfest parish . . Telephone 

Risvik, Honningsvaag parish . Telegraph 

Rygge fjord, Maaso parish . . Telegraph 

Skalelv, N. Varanger parish . Telephone 

Skippernes, Hammerfest parish . Telegraph 

Skoganvarre, Lakselven parish . Telephone 

Sortvik, Maaso parish . . Telephone 

Tangen, Alten parish . . . Telephone 

Tverelvdalen, Elvebakken parish Telephone 



A wireless station has been established in Ingo for corre- 
spondence with the wireless station at Spitzbergen and ships 
at sea. 



APPENDIX IV 



RUSSIAN LAPLAND AND THE MUEMAN COAST 

Lieutenant George T. Temple, E.N., in the 
Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society ; 
October 1880, gives an excellent account of the 
Murman Coast and Eussian Lapland. 

Perhaps no part of Europe is so little known, 
even to the Eussians themselves, as the penin- 
sula which is bounded by Finland, Norway, the 
Murman 1 and White Sea, and the Gulf of Kan- 
dalaks. It is sometimes called Kola 2 Penin- 
sula, after its capital town, but is better known 
as Eussian Lapland, a general appellation which 
includes that part of Karel lying north of 
Topozero,3 or the 66th parallel. The eastern 

1 The Murman Coast extends from Jacob River to Svia- 
toinos. Murman is probably a corruption of Norman, for 
when a borrowed word begins with the letter N, the Russians 
commonly change it to M, and the greater part of this coast 
formerly belonged to Norway. 

2 From the Lappish guola-dak, "fishing-place." 

3 The Russian word ozero signifies "lake." 

260 



APPENDIX IV 



261 



part of the Kola Peninsula is called by the 
Russians Terian Lapland, and by the Lapps 
themselves Turja, a corruption of the Karelian 
word Juraniemi, which signifies " tree point, or 
cape." 

Russian Lapland has an area of about 46,000 
geographical square miles, and forms part of the 
ujesd, or province of Kem, under the Govern- 
ment of Archangel. It is divided into three 
Stanovoi Pristaf, or bailiffs' districts, and con- 
tains eleven parishes, with twelve priests and 
seventeen churches. 

The north-eastern half of Russian Lapland 
consists of barren wastes called " tundras " ; 
forests cover about three-eighths of the whole 
area, and the remainder is occupied by lakes, 
tarns, and marshes. A line drawn south and 
east from Kola, across Lovozero to Sosnovets 
on the White Sea, will not only divide the 
peninsula into two nearly equal parts, but will 
show approximately the boundary between the 
wooded country and the tundras. 

Forests. — The north-western part of Russian 
Lapland closely resembles that part of Norway 
of which it is the continuation. The hills 
seldom attain an elevation of 1,500 ft., and 
where they are exposed to the direct sea blast 
the bare rock is only relieved by birch scrub 



262 THROUGH LAPLAND 



and various kinds of heather. Further in- 
land the trees increase in size and number, 
until at a distance of 25 or 30 miles from 
the sea the birch is nearly lost in extensive 
forests of well-grown pine. The surface of the 
country is undulating, and the character of the 
landscape is quiet, lonely beauty. From 
the highest ridges the eye ranges over an im- 
mense tract of thickly wooded hills, interspersed 
by numerous lakes, and varied by glimpses of 
river winding like silvery threads towards the 
sea. It is hardly possible to conceive a greater 
contrast to the ice-bound regions which lie 
between the same parallels of latitude in the 
Western hemisphere. Patches of the light, 
graceful birch are interspersed among the dark, 
melancholy pines, having completely usurped the 
ground where the woods have been destroyed 
by fire. The aspen, mountain ash, willow, alder, 
bird-cherry, and "wild currant are also common, 
especially on the banks of the rivers and lakes. 
In Lapland the spruce appears to grow nearer 
the sea than the pine, the reverse being the 
case in Scandinavia. The w T oods recede abruptly 
from the coast to the eastward of Kola, where 
low-lying level tracts, which extend far inland, 
are fully exposed to the withering gales from 
the north-east. From Kandalaks eastward to 



APPENDIX IV 



263 



Varsuga the spruce and pine descend to the 
seashore, but fall back gradually towards Sosno- 
vets, where the birch barely reaches the Arctic 
Circle. In spite of the prevalence of fires, the 
wasteful method of extracting resin, and the 
stripping of bark for bread, before the forests 
were placed under proper supervision, there is still 
ample scope for judicious felling. Two of the 
largest rivers of Lapland, the Tulom and the 
Kola, both of which fall into the Kola fjord, 
traverse the most thickly wooded districts, and 
would afford easy transport for timber ; there 
are good sites for saw-mills at the mouth of 
the Kola, and a ready market would be found in 
Finmarken. 1 

Bivers. — The river system of Eussian Lapland 
may be considered in two divisions, the Mur- 
man Sea and White Sea rivers. The former 
flow in a northerly, the latter in a southerly 
direction, and half-way down between them the 
Ponoi Kiver flows from west to east. 

The principal Murman Sea rivers between the 
Pasvig 2 — which for the greater part of its length 
forms the boundary between Russia and Nor- 

1 The northernmost " amt," or province, of Norway. 

2 From the Lappish basse, " holy." The river is also called 
the Roister, because the salmon fishery once belonged to the 
Peisen Monastery. 



264 THROUGH LAPLAND 



way — and Kola fjord are the Bastsamjok, 1 Bo- 
menijok, 2 Latshajok (in Russian Kitzareka, or 
Fox River), Orajok, Tshadnajok, Tulomjok,3 and 
Kolajok. 

The unwooded country between Kola fjord and 
Ponoi is intersected by several rivers, the largest 
of which are Tiriberka, Yuronje (in Lappish 
Kardok or Kardejok, " fence or boundary river "), 
and Jokonga (in Lappish Jokkojok). 

The principal White Sea rivers are Tshja- 
vanga, Varsuga or Varzouka,4 Umbra, and Niva,5 
which forms the outlet of Lake Imandra. 

The largest river in North Karel is the 
Kovda, which falls into the Gulf of Kandalaks 
at the town of Kovda, and is there 630 ft. 
broad. It is larger than the Tulom, and is 
equal in volume to the Glommen, the largest 

1 From the Lappish bcetsam, 11 fir." Jok, pronounced yok, 
is the Lappish for "river." The Baetsam is called Peisen 
by the Norwegians and Petshenga by the Russians. 

2 Probably from the Lappish bomen, or the Norwegian 
bumand, \ 1 husbandman. 

3 From the Lappish tulvom or dulvom, " flood " ; probably 
so called from its breadth and the great extent of the spring 
and autumn floods, or possibly from the " flood-stream," the 
river being tidal up to the first rapid, a distance of 10 versts 
(6-6 English statute miles) from the sea. 

4 The "lodjes," or Russian coasters, ascend the Varsuga 
for a distance of several miles. 

s Niva is a Finnish word signifying "rapid" or " torrent." 
The name is very appropriate. 



APPENDIX IV 



266 



river in Scandinavia. Eising in the great lake 
Tuoppajarvi, 1 the Kovda first runs through Paa- 
jarvi, then through five smaller lakes, and finally 
through Koutojarvi, from which it takes its name. 2 

There are no high falls on any of the larger 
rivers of Eussian Lapland. In the Tulom 
salmon not only run up to Nuotjavre,3 but also 
through that lake and up the Lut Eiver to the 
frontier of Finland. In the Kola they run up to 
Guollejavre. Salmon are seldom found in the 
Niva, though, as far as falls are concerned, they 
might run up to Imandra. In the Kovda they 
run up to Paajarvi. 

Lakes.— -The principal lakes of Eussian Lap- 
land are Imandra, Nuotjavre, Guollejavre, Umb- 
ozero, Koutojarvi, and Paajarvi. The largest of 
all is Imandra, which is also called Inandra,4 
or Lower Imandra, to distinguish it from Bnare, 
which was formerly called Upper Imandra. The 
Lapps, however, call it Aver. 5 

1 Jarvi, pronounced yaervi, is the Finnish for " lake." 

2 The Lappish word goudo, or gooda, signifies " broad." 

3 Javre, or Jaur, is Lappish for "lake." 

4 Perhaps from the Finnish ina or enar, which means " a 
little net." In Finnish, therefore, both Inandra and Enare 
would signify " Net-lake," a name probably suggested by the 
numerous islands. 

5 Probably from the Finnish avara, "open" or "great" 
lake; or possibly a contraction of the Lappish oaive-jaur, 
"head" or "chief lake." 



266 THROUGH LAPLAND 



It is about 60 geographical miles long, but 
less than nine in width at the broadest part. 
The greatest depth, according to the Lapps, is 
150 ft., but Professor Friis could not find more 
than 66 ft. The isthmus between Ghiollejavre 
and Pieresjaur is a strip of low, swampy land, 
barely two-thirds of a mile broad, and as Ghiolle- 
javre is the source of the Kola Kiver, which 
falls into the Barents Sea, while Pieresjaur is 
connected with Lake Imandra and the Gulf 
of Kandalaks, the eastern part of the peninsula 
is very nearly insulated. 

Next to Imandra the largest lake is Nuot- 
javre. It is said to be about 35 geographical 
miles long and seven broad. Like Imandra, 
it is full of islands and has low, richly 
wooded shores. 

The Karelian lakes are much deeper than 
those of the Lapland peninsula, and are probably 
far richer in fish, Koutojarvi in particular 
being celebrated for its fishery. 

The lakes are generally frozen from the end 
of October to the middle of May, or about the 
same time as the White Sea ; but it sometimes 
happens that the ice does not break up till 
towards the end of June. The frost is nearly 
always ushered in by snow, which prevents the 
formation of very thick ice. But for this, the 



APPENDIX IV 267 

shallower lakes would very likely freeze to the 
bottom and the fresh-water fisheries would be 
destroyed. At the same time lake and river 
communication, which is now open for about 
five months in the year, would be seriously in- 
terrupted. 

Orography. — Eastward of the well-known track 
from Alten to the Gulf of Bothnia by Kauto- 
keino, the Scandinavian mountains never 
resume their continuity, although the general 
uniformity in the fall of the ground is 
broken by several detached elevations. Thus 
there are three unwooded summits between the 
Pasvig and Lut Eivers ; and between Nuotjavre, 
the Kola Eiver, and Imandra are the following 
short ranges : Boats-oaivve 1 (in Eussian, Olenja 
gora), immediately west of the Kola Eiver, and 
the Yolshe, Monshe, and Tshynedunder, 2 west 
of Imandra. 

The highest and most extensive range in the 
eastern part of the peninsula, which, as already 
observed, is nearly insulated by the rivers and 
lakes between Kola and Kandalaks, is Umbdek- 

1 Lappish for " reindeer head " ; probably so called because 
the reindeer resort to it to escape the countless swarms of 
mosquitoes which infest the lower grounds. 

2 Dunder is a Lappish word signifying " barren highland," 
or mountain 



j 



268 THROUGH LAPLAND 



dunder, a serrated ridge on the east side of 
Imandra. According to the Eussian traveller 
Middendorf, it attains an elevation of 2,500 ft., 
and snow lies in the ravines, far down the 
slopes, all the year through. From Eine- 
mannevuon, 1 Umbdekdunder runs in a north- 
easterly direction towards Lovozero, but it also 
extends to the southward, between Oktakanda 
and Kolvitsozero, terminating at Kandalaks in 
the four hills Savoaivantsh, Buvd-dunder (iron 
hill), Gask-dunder (middle hill), and Yalaste- 
dunder (lower hill). 

There is also an unwooded height between 
Umba and Yarsuga, and several smaller eleva- 
tions exist northward of the forest limits, where 
the ground is natter than in the wooded country, 
and in other respects resembles the " tundras " 
of Siberia. 

Marshes. — The whole of Eussian Lapland 
is extremely swampy and there are several ex- 
tensive tracts of boggy ground. These are 
partially barren, partially covered by moss and 
heather, and partially overgrown by sedges {car ex), 
which are used for fodder. The cloud-berry 
(Bubus chain ce, morns) is very plentiful on some 
of the marshy grounds, and rich grasses are also 
found in places, especially near the rivers and 

1 Vuon or Vuochia is Lappish for " fjord.' 



APPENDIX IV 



269 



lakes. The three principal marshes lie between 
the Tulon and Kola Eivers, between the Varsuga 
and Ponoi Eivers, and between the Ponoi and 
Bavja, 

Professor Friis could not find frozen ground 
in any of the marshes near Imandra at a depth 
of about one fathom, and the existence of well- 
ing springs which do not freeze in winter points 
to the conclusion that within the forest limits 
the marshes are not frozen underneath like 
those of Siberia. 

Ice- free Fjords and Harbours. — It seems to 
be the general impression that Bussia is shut 
out from the northern seas and has no safe 
harbour open at all seasons of the year, while the 
fjords of Northern Norway never freeze at all. 
According to various authors, " the boundary of 
Northern Kussia " — that is, a small river on the 
south side of Varanger fjord 1 — "corresponds to 
the limit of the Gulf Stream." " From this 
point," it has been further stated, " commences 
that belt of solid ice which locks up the harbours 
of ; the northern coasts of Eussia for six months 
in the year. The change from open water to 
ice is no less abrupt than permanent." If this 
were true, it would indeed be an eccentric 
freak of Nature. But while it is an exag- 
1 The Jacob Kiver. 



270 THROUGH LAPLAND 



geration to say that the fjords of Northern 
Norway never freeze at all, it is altogether 
erroneous to say that the harbours of Northern 
Eussia are ice-bound for six months in the 
year. As a matter of fact, that portion of 
the great ocean current which sweeps eastward 
from the North Cape along the coast of Norway 
retains sufficient warmth to ameliorate the 
climate and keep the principal harbours on 
the Murman Coast open to navigation the whole 
year through, as far eastward as Sviatoinos, at 
the very entrance to the White Sea. From 
thence it takes a north-easterly direction to- 
wards Novaya Zemlya. Therefore it does not 
sink under itself, or turn sharp round and run 
straight out to sea on reaching the boundary, 
neither is it suddenly chilled by coming in 
contact with Eussia civilization. The distance 
to which the fjords of Northern Norway freeze, 
from the inner end outwards, depends upon 
the severity of the season and the quantity 
of fresh water discharged from the different 
sized rivers. This is also the case on the 
contiguous Eussian coast ; the inner parts of 
the longer fjords freeze more or less every winter. 
But the outer, deeper, and more important 
parts are free from ice the whole year through. 
The harbours of Eussian Lapland are in every 



APPENDIX IV 



271 



respect equal to those of Northern Norway ; 
they would make equally good naval or com- 
mercial stations, and the nearest is only 14 
miles from the frontier. Eussia has, therefore, 
no just cause of complaint against the Gulf 
Stream, and as the Murman Coast is farther 
south, it is in some respects superior to that 
of Finmarken. 

Fisheries. — The Murman Coast is visited 
annually by about 3,000 fishermen, of whom 
1,000 are Norwegians and Finlanders, the re- 
mainder being Eussians and Lapps. Some of 
these men come from Brono, on the west coast 
of Norway, a distance of not less than 800 
nautical miles, in their open boats, for it is a 
maxim in the North that " he who would 
eat bread in winter must not stay at home in 
summer." 

There are no less than 41 fishing stations 
on the Murman Coast, and these again are 
divided into four groups, called the Western, 
Kola, Middle, and Eastern fishing districts. The 
Eastern district is but little frequented, and 
there are no huts at any of its eleven fishing 
stations. 

The most important of all the species of fish 
caught on the Murman Coast is the cod (Oadus 
morrhua). The fishery begins about a month 



272 THROUGH LAPLAND 



later than in Norway, the shoals, followed by 
the fishermen, travelling from west to east. 
The cod seem to be confined to the waters of 
the warm ocean current, as they are not found 
to the eastward of Sviatoinos or in the White 
Sea. Next to the cod, the following species 
are most worthy of notice from a commercial 
point of view : the haddock (Gaclus cpglefinus), 
the green cod (G. virens), the tusk (Brosminus 
vulgaris), the bergylt, uer, or Norway haddock 
(Sebastes norvegica), the sea- wolf or sea-cat 
(AnarrJiichas Uvpus), the halibut (Pleuronectes 
hvppoglossus), the flounder (P. flesus), the common 
dab (P. limanda), with the capelin (Mallotus 
arcticus), and the sand-launce (Ammodytes lancea), 
the two latter being used for bait. 

The Greenland shark (Scymnus borealis) is 
plentiful along the whole of the Murman Coast, 
but especially off Kola. There is ample scope 
for the further development of this valuable 
fishery. The finner, razor-back, or rorqual 
(Borquahis borealis of Cuvier) is also common, 
Captain Foyn, of Vadso, having captured no 
less than eighty-one during the summer of last 
year. Herring visit the shores of Eussian Lap- 
land and the White Sea in vast shoals ; they 
are also caught at the mouth of the Ob and 
Yenisei, but the fishery is not carried on with 



APPENDIX IV 273 



the spirit its importance deserves. The salmon 
fisheries ~of the Murman Coast and White Sea 
were formerly very extensive, but at the pre- 
sent time the annual yield of all the rivers in 
the Government of Archangel does not exceed 
1,260,000 lb., valued at £23,750 sterling. 
Owing to the entire absence of control and 
proper supervision, the salmon fisheries are con- 
ducted in the most improvident manner both 
by Kussians and Lapps ; there is no close 
season, and the common practice of barring 
the rivers right across has a very prejudicial 
effect. The Lapland salmon are fat and well 
flavoured; they often weigh from 40 to 50 lb., 
and sometimes more. Salmon fishing begins 
later on the Murman Coast than in Norway, 
and at Kandalaks and Kovda fish are some- 
times not caught until towards the middle ~of 
August, neither do they run so far up the 
White Sea rivers as in those which fall into 
the Murman Sea. 

Char, trout, gwiniad, grayling, perch, and 
pike seem to abound in most of the rivers and 
lakes. 

Game.— In the western part of Eussian Lap- 
land swans, geese, ducks, and t other migratory 
birds breed on the rivers and ;lakesj ptarmi- 
gan are plentiful on the open heather-covered 

19 



274 THROUGH LAPLAND 



ground ; and in the thicker parts of the forests 
capercailzie are met with. There is always the 
chance of a shot at a bear, and wild reindeer 
are found on the high ground about Enare and 
Imandra. Eastward of the Kola River and 
Imandra game appears to be comparatively 
scarce. 

Colonization. — The fisheries and other unde- 
veloped industries of Russian Lapland offer a 
fine opening to emigrants from Finland and 
the Governments of Archangel and Olonetz. 
This is especially true of the north-western 
part of the country, where farming on a small 
scale has been make to pay by the few who 
have attempted it. But the social disposition 
of the Russians, who detest a lonely life and 
steady labour, the ill-health produced by fre- 
quent religious fasts, combined with the severe 
climate and scarcity of vegetables. On the 
south side of the peninsula, where coloniza- 
tion has taken firmer root, there are fifteen 
Russian villages, with an aggregate popu- 
lation of 3,300. The most important of these 
villages are Ponoi (containing 25 houses and 
173 inhabitants), Pialitsa (with 23, 166), Tsha- 
poma (38, 243), Tetrina (58, 355), Kusomen 
(55, 334), Varsuga (54, 249), Umba (69, 461), 
Kandalaks (74, 390), Knashja (22, 125), and 



APPENDIX IV 



275 



Kovda (57, 406). Although some of these 
villages have existed for at least two hundred 
years, they have made very little progress, and 
the number of Lapps in the interior has pro- 
bably diminished rather than increased. 

Kola. — The town of Kola is about three hun- 
dred years old, and, according to Eussian 
reports, had at one time 1,864 inhabitants. In 
1854, however, it was bombarded, and almost 
destroyed, by the Miranda. A colossal church, 
about eighty wooden houses, and some earthen 
huts now stand on the site of the old town, 
and the population is said to be about five 
hundred. 

Population. — The population of Eussian Lap- 
land consists of Eussians, Lapps, Queens, 1 and 
Karelians. The Eussians are traders and specu- 
lators ; the Lapps live by hunting, fishing, and 
the produce of their reindeer, while the Quasns 
and Karelians are agriculturists. They are all 
Greek Catholics, but some are " old believers," 
as distinguished from the Niconians. They are 
excessively strict in the observance of cere- 
monial, and abstain from meat for about half 
the year. In the eastern part of the penin- 
sula, where it is impossible to observe the fasts 

1 So called because numbers of them originally came from 
Kajana-Len, where they called themselves " Kainu-laiset," 



276 THROUGH LAPLAND 



on account of the climate, they are, however, 
allowed to eat ptarmigan, which is there called 
"flying fish," either to pacify or deceive the 
saints, or to stifle the pangs of conscience w 7 hile 
appeasing those of hunger. With one or two ex- 
ceptions, the priests do not understand the lan- 
guage of their Karelian and Lappish parishioners. 

The Qusens are specially fitted for the life of 
a backwoodsman or solitary farmer. Hardy and 
independent by nature, the true Finlander likes 
to be monarch of all he surveys, and would 
rather endure hardship and toil than live in 
ease and comfort and own the control of a 
master. The Karelians and Quaens are nearly 
related, and their language is almost identical. 
In character, however, they differ materially, the 
Karelians having lost the perseverance, hardi- 
hood, and independence of their Lutheran 
brethren, without acquiring much of the enter- 
prising spirit of the Kussians. Ignorance, preju- 
dice, and extreme poverty are almost universal 
amongst the Karelians, but on the whole the 
men are sober and industrious, the women 
chaste and domestic. A peaceful, forgiving 
spirit is one of their most marked character- 
istics, and many of their national customs are 
peculiar and interesting. Owing to the scarcity 
of grain the Karelians make bread with a mix- 



APPENDIX IV 



277 



ture of fir-bark, straw, and damaged rye-flour. 
When used as a substitute for flour the inner 
part of the bark is stripped off, dried, pounded 
in a wooden mortar, and finally ground in a 
hand-mill ; but when used in fish-soup it is 
simply chopped small. The Lapps inhabit the 
interior of the peninsula, each tribe being named 
after the territory to which it has a prescriptive 
right. They have, to a certain extent, adopted 
the manners and customs as well as the religion 
of the Eussians, but though they do not wander 
from place to place with their reindeer, like the 
true nomadic Lapps of Scandinavia, they are, 
nevertheless, frequently moving. In spring they 
generally disperse, the majority resorting to the 
smaller lakes for fishing and bird-catching, while 
some few go down to the coast and take part 
in the great sea fisheries. Towards the middle 
of July the larger lakes are visited, and the 
salmon are trapped and netted with an utter 
disregard of everything beyond the requirements 
of the moment. In August they betake them- 
selves to the autumn stations to hunt reindeer, 
martens, squirrels, otters, and bears. Finally, 
towards Christmas, they return to their winter 
quarters, where they live together in small 
villages called " pogosts." Each pogost has its 
own chapel-of-ease, and consists of from six to 



278 THROUGH LAPLAND 



ten or twenty straggling wooden huts, the roofs 
of which are covered with birch-bark or turf. 
Every ten or fifteen years, when there is no 
longer a sufficiency of reindeer-moss and fuel in 
the immediate neighbourhood, the whole pogost, 
chapel and all, is pulled down and removed to 
a fresh site ; the chapel is reconsecrated, and 
the huts and surroundings are well sprinkled 
with holy water. Thus the villages never remain 
long in the same place, and are sometimes 
many miles distant from the parish church and 
parsonage. In dress and outward appearance the 
Eussian Lapps differ but little from those of 
Scandinavia and Finland, but they have pre- 
served more of their originality, and are far 
more ignorant, their knowledge of religion being 
almost confined to a parrot-like repetition of 
" Gospodi Jesus Christ, suine boghii pomilui 
nas ! " (Lord Jesus Christ, God's son, have 
mercy upon us). The dialects of the various 
tribes differ so much that the people of distant 
districts have the greatest difficulty in under- 
standing each other. Their legends and traditions 
are full of interest, but their national customs 
are now almost extinct. 

Admiral Sir E. Ommanney, at a meeting of 
the Eoyal Geographical Society in 1880, said 



APPENDIX IV 



279 



his visit to the coast of Eussian Lapland was 
of a hostile nature, and did not afford . much 
occasion for geographical research. He had the 
honour of being selected to command the White 
Sea squadron in the war of 1854, and therefore 
his object was not discovery. Hammerfest was 
the first part of the coast of Norway which he 
touched at, and having had to go inside the 
island of Soroe, he would caution all square- 
rigged vessels against taking that course. The 
coast of Norway was fringed by an archipelago 
of islands, and it was almost impossible for a 
square-rigged vessel to make progress among 
them owing to baffling winds. The coast rose 
so precipitously from the sea that there was no 
anchoring ground. Hammerfest was the most 
northern civilized town in Europe ; it was a 
place of great commercial importance, the 
principal pursuit of the inhabitants being fishing ; 
the population was about one thousand, and 
they were a friendly and hospitable race. The 
harbour was small and of crescent shape, with 
very deep water. On the opposite side of the 
bay was the town of Fuglnaes, where there was 
the best anchorage in the harbour. The neigh- 
bourhood was very remarkable for its ^mineral 
productions. An extensive fjord stretched from 
Hammerfest 40 miles into the interior, and at 



280 THROUGH LAPLAND 



the head of it was a large copper-mine, which 
was being very profitably worked by English 
capital. A ship under his orders ascended 
the Biver Kola. The town of Kola was the 
capital of Russian Lapland, about 13 miles 
from the coast. The Miranda, commanded by 
Captain Lyons, succeeded in reaching the town 
in spite of the rapidity of the stream, which 
was running five or six knots an hour, and in 
spite of grounding several times. If the garrison 
of the town had commanded the precipitous 
cliffs that bordered on the river, they might 
have shot every man on deck of the vessel. 
On reaching the town, Captain Lyons com- 
manded the Russian governor to surrender all 
the military stores in the place, and, on his 
Excellency's declining to comply, the place was 
bombarded, and the capital of Russian Lapland 
totally destroyed. The only other part of Russian 
Lapland which he visited was the Ukanskoi 
Islands, within the promontory of Sviatoi Xos, 
which the sailors anglicized and called Sweet- 
nose. He found a very good harbour inside 
those islands, which had never before been visited 
by our ships of war. It was perfectly sheltered, 
and there was a good supply of water to be 
obtained. "While staying there he saw a herd 
of reindeer. His men landed and killed a good 



APPENDIX IV 



281 



number, and after having cruised for three 
months in the White Sea without fresh provi- 
sions, the ships' companies enjoyed the meat. 
He noticed there a remarkable shrub, with 
fruit something like the strawberry, which was 
profusely eaten. The Eussians use it as an 
antiscorbutic. The charts supplied by the 
Admiralty to our squadron for that service in 
the White Sea and adjacent coasts proved very 
accurate. They were prepared from the Swedish 
and Kussian surveys. Although they were totally 
unacquainted with the navigation, the squadron 
were enabled to search every part of the White 
Sea and conduct the blockade of Archangel in 
1854 without any casualty to the ships. 



APPENDIX V 



BIBLIOGEAPHY 



SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 



Stephanius, Stephan (1599-1650). 
De regno Daniae et Norwegiae. 

ToRN^US, JOHANNUS. 

Manuale Lapponicum. 



1629 



1648 



Magnus, Olaus (1490-1558). 

A compendious history of the Goths, Swedes, and 



Rehn, Samuel. 

Een kortt Eelation om Lappmarkens, etc. M.S. in 

Royal Library at Stockholm. Dated 24 Feb. 1671 

La Martiniere, P. M. de. 

A New Voyage into the Northern Countries. 1674 
(Translated from the French.) 

SCHEFFERUS, JOHANNUS (1621-1679). 

Lapponia. Frankf. 1673 

The History of Lapland. Oxford, 1674 

(An English translation by Acton Cremer. 1 ) 



Vandals, and other northern nations. 

Graan, Olaus. 

Manuale Lapponicum. S 



fol. 1658 



Stockholm, 1669 



1 See note, p. 2. 

282 



APPENDIX V 



283 



Sheffer's book was based on works by Eehn, 
Graan, and Tornseus. A German translation 
was published at Frankfurt in 1675, a French 
at Paris in 1678, and a Dutch at Amster- 
dam in 1682. 

EIGHTEENTH CENTUEY 

Negri, Francesco. 

La Lapponia descritta. Venice, 1705 

Zieglee, Jacobus. 

Christierni Daniae regis attentata in Suecia regnum. 1717 

Leem, Knud (1697-1774). 

Beskrivelse over Finmarkens Lapper. Copenhagen, 1767 
(English version in Piakerton's " Voyages," vol. i.) 

Carisius, Jonas. 

Kong Christian den Fierdes Eeise omkring de 

Norske Kyster. Copenhagen, 1773 

Hammond, Hans (1733-92). 

Den Nordiske Missions Historic Copenhagen, 1787 

Pontoppidan, Carl. 

Det Finmarkste Magazins Samlinger (edited 

by C. P.). Copenhagen, 1790 

NINETEENTH AND TWENTIETH CENTUEIES 

Buck, Leopold von (1774-1803). 

Travels through Norway and Lapland, 1806-8. 1813 
(English translation.) 

Skjoldebrand, A. F. 

A Picturesque Journey to the North Cape. 1813 
(Translated from the French.) 



284 THROUGH LAPLAND 

Zetterstedt, Joh. Wilh. 

Resa genom Sveriges sch Norges Lappmarker 

ar 1821. Lund. 1822 

Brooke, Sir Arthur de Capell, Bart. (1791-1858). 

A Winter in Lapland. 1827 
Winter Sketches in Lapland. 1827 

Everest, Robert. 

A Journey through Norway, Lapland, and Part of 

Sweden. 1829 

Keilhau, B. M. (1797-1858). 

Reise i Ost-og Vest-Finmarken, 1827-8. 

Christiania, 1831 

Ljsstadius, P. (1804-11). 

Journal for forsta . , . Missionaire i Lappmarken. 

Stockholm, 1831 

Marmier, Xavier (1809-92). 

Voyages de la Commission Scientifique du Nord 
en Scandinavie, en Lapponie, etc., pendant les 
annees 1838-40, sous la direction de Paul 
Gaimard. Paris, 1842-8 

(For the "Relation du Voyage," by Marmier, 
see vols. i. and ii.). 

Rode, Fredrik. 

Optegnelser fra Finmarken, 1826-34. Skien, 1842 

Munch, Peter Andreas (1810-63). 

Det Norske Folks Historie. Christiania, 1852-9; 1862-3 

Taylor, Bayard (1825-78). 

Northern Travel. 1858 

Stockfleth, Nils J. C. V. (1787-1866). 

Dagbog over mine Missions-Reiser i Finmarken. 

Christiania, 1860 

Voqt, Carl (1817-95). 

Nord-Fahrt, etc. Frankf. a/M., 1863 



APPENDIX V 



285 



Vahl, Jens. 

Lapperne og den lapske Mission. 

Fritzner, Johana (1812- ). 

Ofdbog over det gamle Norske Sprog. 

WULFSBERG, C. A. 

Om Finmarken. 



Bang, Th. Kaptejn. 

Landmalerliv i Finmarken. 



Copenhagen, 1866 
Christiania, 1867 
Ohristiania, 1867 
Christiania, 1873 



Stockholm, 1873 



1880 



1881 



Paris, 1882 



Duben, Gustap W. von (1822- ). 
Om Lappland och Lapparne. 
(With a. Bibliography.) 

Friis, Jens Andreas (1821- ). 
Esquisses du Finmarken. 
(English translation, 1883.) 

Du Chaillu, Paul B. (1837- ). 
Land of the Midnight Sun. 

Koechlin- Schwartz, Alfred. 
Un touriste en Laponie. 

Tromholt, Sophus. 

Under the Eays of the Aurora Borealis. 2 vols. 1885 

Hagemann, Axel. 

Under Polarkredsen Naturskildrigen. Christiania, 1886 

QVIGSTAD, J. 

Lappische Sprachproben. 1886 

Rabot, Charles. 

Explorations dans la Laponie Russe. 1889-91 
(Vols. 10, 11, 12 of the 7th Series of the 

Bulletin of the French Geographical Society.) 
La Laponie Su^doise. Paris, 1903 

Reusch, Hans. 

Folk og natur i Finmarken 1895 



286 THROUGH LAPLAND 



Engelhardt. 

Russian Province of the North. 

Helland, Amund. 

Norges Land og Polk. 

Fulton, John Henry Westropp. 

With Ski in Norway and Lapland. 

Thurri, Johann (Laplander). 
Muittalus Sarnid Birra. 

Demant-Hatt. 

Med Lapperne. 

Butler, Frank Hedges. 

Through Lapland with Ski and Reindeer. 




m 



Printed in Great Britain by 
UNWIN BROTHERS, LIMITED 
WOKING AND LONDON 



MAT zu im 





o 



7- 



✓ ^fci^J^ s ■av » <s c •* 

O ' / s s iG ^ y „ V ^ -\ 

"V v _ ^ ^. ^x 




Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. 
Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date: 2 ^ 

PreservationTechnologies 

A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATION 

111 Thomson Park Drive 
Cranberry Township, PA 16066 
(724) 779-2111 



